Sword Art Online: Archangel
by Archangel V2.0
Summary: He is the Archangel, the strongest player in SAO. He is Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of SAO. Yet, they have a much deeper connection than this, a connection that has lasted for centuries after centuries. Nothing is true and everything is permitted...
1. SAO Chapter 1: The Mysterious Swordsman

**This is my first fanfiction so please understand if it is not to your taste or good. Enjoy :)(PS: I will be updating erratically due to school life XD.)**

Kirito backed into a wall. The black swordsman, supposedly the most powerful and high-level player in the death game was getting overwhelmed. "Starburst Stream!" he roared as the Elucidator and the Dark Repulsor danced in the air, creating sparks as they clashed with the opponent's swords. Apparently, he had not been the only one who had the skill to wield two swords. The opponent was unfazed by the sudden new move. He was blocking attack after attack with his swords. Kirito activated the Eclipse and pushed his opponent back with blow after blow. He felt amazed at the power of both the ability and his opponent, who has only suffered from a flesh wound from the Eclipse. His health only dropped slightly into the yellow zone and was healed almost instantaneously. Kirito was about to launch a fresh wave of attacks when his opponent said something since the beginning of the duel. "Eternal Light!" one of the opponent's swords began to glow golden and suddenly, a shockwave healed up all of the opponent's energy levels and health before knocking Kirito onto the floor, dealing 25% damage to his hp. However, thanks to Kirito's high level of health regeneration. He got up almost immediately, albeit unsteadily as the effects of the shockwave still lingered on him. That definitely did not help him get ready for the next move. "Apocalypse!" said the opponent as both of his swords glowed blood red as the ability was activated. Kirito tried to block the attacks but was overwhelmed by the speed of the strikes and had both of his swords knocked out of his hands before a barrage of strikes landed on him, draining his health within a few seconds to the red zone. Almost 20000 hp worth of damage was dished out by his opponent in a matter of seconds and as the opponent landed gracefully behind him, Kirito collapsed. "The winner of the duel is the Archangel!" shouted the arena master. The hooded figure walked away, barely a dent on him.

"Kirito, are you alright?" Kirito heard Asuna as he found himself on a bed suddenly with Asuna leaning over him to check if he was alright. Kirito sighed and put his hand onto his forehead. Who was that opponent? His health definitely dropped into the yellow zone which means he is definitely not an immortal object or Game Master. Then, what was he? "Kirito-kun, are you spacing out again?" Asuna asked him in a teasing voice as he looked up and smiled at his wife. "It's alright Kirito, a defeat or so does not really mean anything, just train hard and try to beat him in the future." He smiled even wider pulling her in for a hug as she blushed furiously. Before long, they were both asleep in the realm of Sword Art Online.

As they awoke the next morning, they picked up their swords and got dressed and hurried to floor 52, where they were supposed to clear out a dungeon. Clearing out dungeons was only a routine affair for them as the monsters in there were not much of a challenge; one or a few strikes were enough to overwhelm most of them. The bosses were not much of a challenge either, since Kirito and Asuna were level 98 and 97 respectively. They had relative ease of clearing out the dungeon and were heading towards the boss room when they saw a flash of white whip through the air with unimaginable speed, heading straight into the boss room. They decided to follow it, out of curiosity more than anything. They went into the room, only to find the boss overwhelmed as it burst into polygons. "But…But… how is it possible? He had only gone in for a few seconds. How… did he manage to defeat the boss already?" Kirito and Asuna both just stared at the hooded figure in shock and disbelief as it leapt out of the room with the same speed it came in, not even picking up the drops from the boss, which included some extremely rare and valuable items, for example, the Dark Abyss, a sword that resembled the Dark Repulsor, only with higher statistics, even higher than the Elucidator. "Oh well, since he does not want this weapon, I might as well use it." Said Kirito with glee as he picked up the weapon and slotted it in the place of the Dark Repulsor. He placed the Dark Repulsor back into his inventory. "Kirito, wasn't that the same person that you fought yesterday?" Asuna said as she also went to pick up the drops. "Yeah…I noticed it too. But that does not tell me who he is." "It's alright, we could call it a day here." said Kirito to his lover as they both left the dungeon. Klein was waiting for him when he left the dungeon. "Yo!" "Hi Klein, what are you doing here?" "Waiting for you of course." replied Klein. "Konichiwa, Klein-san." said Asuna as she also emerged from the tunnel that marked the entrance of the dungeon. "Asuna, Konichiwa." Klein said with a slightly perverted and dreamy look on his face, only for Kirito to raise his fist and bring it down on him. "Ow! What was that for Kirito?!" exclaimed Klein as he fell to the ground holding his head. "That was for staring at Asuna with those perverted eyes of yours." Kirito said in an irritated voice. "Come on, why can only you look at Asuna? Besides, it's a man's instincts when they look at such cute girls." Klein said while he was still wincing from Kirito's hit. Looking at them, Asuna burst out laughing and said "Klein, don't be upset, you are invited for dinner at my place tonight." "EHHHHHH?!" shouted Kirito in disbelief as he heard the unbelievable news. "Haha, Kirito, it's alright, I will leave immediately if you two start to get a little too romantic and physical. Hehehe." said Klein. "You…" said both Kirito and Asuna as they teleported to the wooden lodge Asuna and Kirito bought in the 22nd floor.

Meanwhile, a hooded figure leapt away, into the darkness of night; his white cape, hood and clothes glowing in the moonlit night.

**That's it, hope you enjoyed Chapter One. :). Reviews will be welcome.**


	2. SAO Chapter 2: The Angel of Death?

**Hi guys, I'm back with chapter two of this fanfiction and here it is. Enjoy :). **

He was known as the Angel of Death, the Archangel, the White Knight or the Invincible One. Rumours have begun to spread that an invincible player has suddenly appeared in Sword Art Online. He was only known for speaking when only using his abilities. His swords were also a mystery, none of the broker's list revealed any information about them. He also wore a white outfit, almost all white with his cape, hood and attire similar to Kirito's only that it is white, not black. He never revealed his face to anyone. However, the most mysterious trait that he had was that he defeated Kirito, the black swordsman, the beater; the one that everyone feared and the one that some respected had been defeated without inflicting a single point of damage to this player. Exactly what was he?

Unknown POV: Today was really boring, clearing out the 55th floor dungeon, sigh, I hope that Sword Art Online could provide more challenges, all of these is really too easy. Those players though, they have the potential in them. Especially the one in black, the one I fought. He was the one who was supposed to face Kayaba Akihiko in the endgame. Yet, he might not be strong enough. Perhaps, I should help him. But first, I need his and his companions' trust.

"Asuna, are you sure about this? Won't Heathcliff punish us for slacking?"

Kirito rubbed his head as he sat onto his bed. "It will be fine." replied Asuna with a smile on her face as she dragged Kirito out of bed and out of the wooden lodge.

"We can go fishing today, the weather today is nice. It's like you said, its Aincrad's finest season and its finest weather, we shouldn't waste it on clearing a dungeon. Let's have fun today, Kirito. We just need to inform our leader about this."

After, saying that, Asuna pecked Kirito's cheek and left to prepare breakfast, leaving him slightly flustered. After eating breakfast, they teleported to Grandzam, where the headquarters of the Knights of the Blood Oath were. They walked into the room to tell Heathcliff about their temporary absence when they saw the Angel of Death speaking to Heathcliff.

"What could he be doing here?" wondered Asuna while Kirito just looked on. After the Angel of Death left, the couple walked up to Heathcliff and requested for a leave. They were permitted, on one condition; they were supposed to return immediately if the guild needs them. Just before they left though, Kirito asked Heathcliff who was the mysterious swordsman.

"Do you know who he was, leader?" "I do not, he is a mysterious entity that has arrived at Sword Art Online, or not really arrived, appeared in Sword Art Online." "Then what was he speaking to you about?" "He was asking to join our guild."

He wants to join our guild huh? That could make us the strongest, way stronger than any other guild, due to this player, but what is this uneasiness that was connected to him? Who exactly, was this man? "Kirito-kun? Are you there?"

"Oh Asuna, sorry, I spaced out." Asuna began the giggle at that and they both teleported to Level 61 Selmburg, where Asuna's house was. After fetching their fishing gear, they headed towards the ocean.

They were chatting and laughing along the way that they did not notice a hole in the ground in front of them.

"Ahhhhhhh!" shouted both of them as they fell into the hole. What is this? Then, they both noticed that there was an alert on their interface, they had entered a hostile area.

"No way, how did I not notice that there was a dungeon here?" Asuna said in disbelief as Kirito and she changed into their fighting outfits. They walked along cautiously as they did not want to be surprised by any mobs. "Why is this dungeon so short though?" Asuna thought as they saw the exit. Suddenly, something huge blocked the exit. It read, The Killer Worm as a huge worm crawled out of the shadows and faced them. But what caught the couple's attention was the fact that it had 8 bars of health.

"That's, even more powerful than The Gleam Eyes, the one we fought on level 74!" "Kirito, what do we do?"

Kirito answered Asuna by pulling out the Dark Abyss and the Elucidator and leapt towards his new opponent. The worm reared up its huge meaty body and snapped its mouth, which was an opening with sharp spikes in it at Kirito. "Darkness!" yelled Kirito as both of his swords glowed and he unleashed hit after hit on the worm. He then leapt away from the beast with grace on both of his feet while the worm thrashed around in pain. Its health decreased to the yellow zone and Kirito smiled grimly at the beast in triumph. However, the worm suddenly began to glow green as all its wounds healed. Its health regenerated to the max.

"No way…" said Kirito as he stared at the Worm's health bar as it reached maximum level. The worm was reenergised as it let out a ferocious squishing sound. It sent its body straight towards Kirito and Asuna and a single lunge was enough to push the two roughly aside. Their health dropped to the yellow zone in one hit. Kirito tried to get back up on his feet and move when he felt intense pain while trying to get up, his body not obeying his commands. That was when he noticed that he and Asuna were both paralysed by the monster. The worm slithered over to Asuna where it reared up for its final blow to finish her off. "Kirito! Save me!" Asuna yelled in fear and closed her eyes. Kirito grimaced as he was unable to do anything to save Asuna. As the worm drew nearer, he closed his eyes, unable to bear seeing his wife and only love to be struck down by the worm.

"ASUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" yelled Kirito. The worm hovered inches above Asuna, as it opened its mouth and went for the kill.

Kirito waited for the end to come when out of the corner of his half shut eyes, he saw a blinding flash of white light come into the room and slice the worm. The worm reared up again, this time due to annoyance and irritation that its meal was stolen from it. The flash of light then grabbed Asuna and Kirito and dragged them into a corridor and sealed it off with rocks to prevent the worm from coming in, however, they noticed that the entrance had sealed itself so they could not proceed backwards. That was when Asuna and Kirito looked at their saviour. "You?!" they both said in shock as they looked at the hooded knight.

"Yes, it's me, the Angel of Death."

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I read the reviews and I tried my best to separate the dialogue. Haha it's just that when I write essays at school, the dialogue is never separated so yep, it's a habit. I tried to correct it to the best of my ability. Please enjoy thanks. :) (I might be a bit self-centered about the OC name but yeah.) **


	3. SAO Chapter 3: The Killer Worm

**As usual, hi, here is chapter 3 I have been working on. Enjoy the stories and reviews are welcome.**

"How could it be?" Asuna and Kirito stared blankly at the White Knight, who was still clothed in full white and had his hood on.

"More importantly, how did you know that we were here? Are you some stalker or something?" Asuna said.

"If you are stalking Asuna, you have me to get through first." Kirito glared at the Angel of Death and pulled out both of his swords.

"You two… Honestly, I do not really know what gives you the idea that I am stalking you and I assure you that if I was interested in stalking Asuna, I would have taken her already. Do you think that you could stop me? More importantly to the point, we should discuss about how to kill the giant worm that is slowly breaking down the wall to get to us than argue about the doubtable assumption that I am stalking you."

"Whoa, that's a hell of a tongue-twister. But you are right, what should we do to defeat the boss? It is way too powerful, I mean, it has twice the health of the boss on level74, The Gleam Eyes." said Kirito.

"I have never faced such a powerful monster before but I will fight anyways. You two, back me up when I switch with both of you. I have heard that you two are some of the best fighters in this realm, therefore, you will be of definite help to me in this battle." said the White Knight.

Just then, the worm finally busted through the iron wall and smashed headlong into the three of them. Luckily, they used their maxed out agility skills to jump away from it just in time before they got squashed by the huge ton of meat. The White Knight whipped out his swords and flicked them through the air like they were toys that he had played with 24/7. He weaved in and out of the attack range of the worm with incredible speed, overwhelming the worm's senses while landing blow after blow at the worm, decreasing its health steadily. Kirito and Asuna just stood there, mesmerised by the White Knight's skill and speed as he was locked in a ballet of death with the worm, whoever who runs out of energy will be the one to die. All was going well as the worm's health dropped into the yellow zone. The White Knight quickened the speed of his attacks and slashed at the worm ferociously when the worm suddenly reared up and used the same power it used against Kirito and Asuna. The White Knight was blasted back by the shock wave and grimaced as he felt that he was paralysed. Asuna quickly used a recovery antidote to health him and cure him of the paralysis. The worm took this chance and slithered over, launching them all into the air and then letting them fall to the ground with a sickening thud. Asuna and Kirito found themselves in the same position as they were in just now, with the worm hovering over them, relishing in its victory and playing with its food before it eats them. The worm lunged down at Kirito, who rolled over and let the worm bite the stone of the floor instead. Letting out a feral roar due to its annoyance, the worm launched itself again and again at Kirito, until it forced him to a corner. Its eyes gleamed of triumph as the black swordsman was now at its mercy, of which it had none. Kirito waited for the end to come and could hear Asuna screaming his name. Sorry Asuna, if this is my fate, I'm really sorry. I thought… I thought, I would be able to return to the world with you, the real world. I'm sorry.

"Flames of purification," Kirito heard a voice shout out as he opened his eyes, barely as he saw the worm getting burned and withered by the White Knight, who landed blow after blow on the worm with swords of flame. "Kirito, what are you waiting for? Run now!" shouted the White Knight. Kirito followed his instincts and dashed out of the area. "Kirito, Asuna, switch!" they followed their killer instinct and obeyed him in the frenzy of defeating an enemy; they disregarded him as a stranger giving orders to them. Asuna and Kirito leapt into the battle as the White Knight landed one last blow with his flame engulfed swords and twirled in mid-air, before landing gracefully. "Eclipse! Lambent Infinity!" both Kirito and Asuna activated their special abilities and charged forward with perfect chemistry, knowing where each of them will be at any given moment. Together, they rained blow after blow at the worm while it made futile attempts to drive them off with wild lunges and bites. However, those were easily dodged by the Lightning Flash and the Black Swordsman as they drained its health down to the red zone. Just then, the worm activated its last resort, growing to 3 times its original size as it regained 25% of its health and almost squashed Kirito and Asuna. They both looked at it with great trepidation and fear as they were staring at the creature that defied logic and sense. However, they saw the Angel of Death step forward with a confident smirk on his face. "I sorry worm, but your time is up. God's Wrath!" One of his swords' glowed blood red while the other shone a brilliant golden as he leapt into the radius of the huge meat worm lifted the swords above him and brought them down with a sickening squelch as the worm was cut into pieces.

The parts of the worm fizzled and burst into polygons.

"No way… He destroyed it in one stroke?! That's impossible!" Kirito exclaimed as the White Knight leapt onto the floor. The word "congratulations" was still hanging in the room as the members received the drops and xp from the boss.

"That was one heck of a battle eh?"

"Sure, it was." The White Knight replied as he was still staring into blank space.

"I'm sure that if you didn't show up, we would be dead! This brings us back to something. Were you stalking us?" Asuna said.

"Are you seriously still up to that? Come on, I know you are cute and all but that does not mean I have to stalk you! But I shall explain anyway. This system keeps track of the battles you fought so I flipped through it and added you as a friend Kirito. When I saw that your health dropping to the yellow zone, I immediately teleported to where you were, therefore explaining my presence."

"You added me as a friend but why? I thought you like to go solo." Kirito asked, puzzled at the White Knight's decision.

"That was because you two had the extraordinary skill and power that normal gamers do not have, you two are worth being friends with. Besides that, I know that I can trust both of you, you two are really kind and friendly, and that's why I decided to add you as a friend Kirito."

"Wow, thanks, can we add you as a friend as well?" asked Asuna.

"Sure, go ahead."

"By the way, what is your name?"

"My name is Otonashi."

"Well Otonashi-san, I am pleased to be a friend of you." Asuna extended a hand towards the White Knight while Kirito was blushing by the side with an irritated expression on his face, while the thoughts of Asuna and Otonashi being together flowed through his brain. However, before Otonashi could take Asuna's extended hand of friendship, the floor started shaking heavily.

"OH NO, ANYTHING BUT THIS!"

**Well, that's it for this chapter. This chapter was mostly about fighting so I promise, for the fans that love slice of life, there will be much more of it in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. :) (PS I noticed that my chapters are getting a bit longer so I will make this clear. My chapter word count will be between 1-1.5k words, which are not very long, considering some Fanfiction I have seen. Thanks for the reviews anyway.)**


	4. SAO Chapter 4: Kirito

**Hey guys, it's me again, this time with Chapter 4 of this Fanfiction. Please enjoy. :)**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Asuna, Kirito both screamed as the pillars fell and the rocks crumbled around them, the whole dungeon was collapsing. Soon, water began to enter the dungeon while the trio were trapped in there, unable to escape as rocks blocked their path. Water flooded into the dungeon as the earth began to sink into the sea.

"Kirito, what do we do?" Asuna asked in a trembling voice, terrified of what was going to happen.

"I…don't know," Kirito mumbled, lost as he stared at the water just coming into the dungeon, squeezing out the space and air they needed to breathe and survive with. The water was soon up to their knees and was pouring in at an ever increasing rate, soon to be engulfing the entire tunnel, leaving the three of them to drown.

"Kirito… I'm so scared…" Asuna clung to Kirito's arm as they tried to comfort each other. Meanwhile, the Archangel pulled out a device behind his back and threw it stealthily onto the ground. It's for the better good, it will be trouble if the two don't want to leave me here therefore, I will force a teleport out of this area. Asuna was too busy clinging onto Kirito to notice the small glowing cube on the ground before it burst into pure white light. Asuna and Kirito both saw a huge wave of water before their vision turned into pure white light as the cube dissolved into polygons.

Are we dead? Asuna and Kirito stared into blank space as their surroundings turned to nothing except pure white. If this is dying, it isn't painful at all; it's quite a blissful feeling anyway, being in nothingness. No weight, no gravity, no energy wasted, which describes our situation pretty well, thought Kirito. Then, everything happened; green scenery flashed before them as they felt gravity and physics regain their grip over them as they fell towards the floor.

A crash and then, "Ow…" Kirito said as he opened his eyes. "Huh? What is this? He grasped the "object" that hovered over his head. "So soft, I wonder what is it?"

"Ahh…Ahh…" Kirito heard some strange noises and turned his head around, only to find him staring into an Asuna filled with embarrassment and anger.

"Bak…Bak…Bak…Baka!" Asuna screamed at Kirito.

Kirito looked up and noticed what he was grabbing; well it was Asuna's erm, that part. "Sorry…Asuna-san. Ahhhhhhh!" Kirito shouted as Asuna generated a purple energy ball and punched him, causing him to fall backwards for 20 feet or so. "Ow…" said Kirito as he slammed against a wall.

"Kirito, do you know where is Otonashi-san?" Asuna asked.

"Well, no." Kirito then turned around and realised that the Archangel was not with them anymore.

"Kirito, did he die, how did we get out of there if he did not? Did he sacrifice himself for us?" Asuna blasted Kirito with a huge stream of questions.

"I do not think so, if he died, his name would no longer be on my friend list, and look, his name is still here. Besides, according to his skill and strength, he has more than enough power to survive that. As to how did we get out of there is a mystery, that was definitely a teleport to here, but that area was an anti-teleportation crystal area so we can't have used any of our crystals. " Kirito replied to Asuna, noticing her frown.

"Alright then, we were so close to being friends with him though, we could be the first ones to find out who he really is. That was really close, Kirito, do you think that he will show up before us again?"

"I think that he wills, he was the one who saved us in the first place, that might be because he had a change of attitude to us." Kirito smiled at Asuna.

"His power though, it has not diminished since he first met you Kirito. Do you think he is another beta tester like you?"

"Probably, but I never knew any beta tester that have made it further than me, in other words, he is most likely not a beta tester." Kirito sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "We were so close to making friends with him though… what a pity."

"Yeah, Kirito, do you think we will meet him again?"

"I hope so; I got a feeling that he is connected with the game. But for now Asuna, let's go home. I want to sleep with you tonight, after all that has happened today." Kirito smiled at his wife as they walked back up to their housing, their minds still full of questions about the White Knight.

Unknown POV: Wow, I didn't know that that would happen. Good thing my force teleport command cube worked. I was so close to accepting their friendship too, what a waste, now I have to find another opportunity to approach them again. Life is really cruel to me when it comes to this. Never mind, for now, I will go back. Just then, I heard sounds coming from the woods, mysterious voices began shouting out for me to lay down my weapons. I sighed, they caught me in the bad mood, I drew out both of my swords and turned around. What I saw was exactly what I did not want to see. My teeth clenched together as I knew what was going to happen. I will try to kill as little of them as possible. As the cries of "cheater" reached my ears, I burst forward and buried my swords into one of them.

Asuna woke up groggily, as she found herself lying on top of Kirito. Looking at Kirito's face, she could not resist poking him in the face a few times while exclaiming how cute his sleeping face was. It was then when she realised, both of them were half naked. A huge swell of blood rose to her face as she tried to recall what happened last night. She could not remember anything. Did Kirito and I seriously do 'it'? Just then, Kirito stirred and woke up.

"Ohayo Asuna…" Kirito mumbled as he rubbed his eyes.

"O…O…Ohayo Kirito-kun." Asuna could not look at his face without him noticing the huge red area on her face.

"Kirito-kun, what were we doing last night?" Asuna asked while still determinedly avoiding meeting Kirito's gaze.

"Well, let's see. You fell asleep like a baby once you got onto this bed and then you kept complaining that you were hot in your sleep so I took off your shirt. As for my shirt, I took it off before sleep since it was too hot for me. That's what happened last night."

"Kirito-kun… You made me think something I was not supposed to think you know…" Asuna said, still with the heavy blush on her face.

"Wait… What were you thinking! Asuna, there is no need to worry; I won't take advantage of you." Kirito quickly explained before Asuna could turn her knife on him.

"Kirito, erm… let's just say that I kind of want to do it with you." Asuna said with a stammering voice.

"Asuna? Are you serious? What…what do you mean?" Kirito jumped backwards, almost falling off the bed and stared at Asuna with his large eyes round with shock as he comprehended what Asuna said.

"Am I not good enough for you?" Asuna looked up at Kirito with such cute and sweet eyes that it made Kirito melt inside out. A man could only take this much. Kirito leaned over and kissed her straight in the lips while pushing her down.

"K…Kirito-kun… I think we should save this for…for late…later you know… ahhh!" Asuna moaned out as Kirito kissed her neck and his hands became as dirty as their master's mind. His hands moved towards her more sensitive spots, especially those round mounds that would drive any man over their limits.

"What are you talking about Asuna, I will do you right here, right now, isn't that what you wanted?" Kirito whispered in Asuna's ear, causing her to shiver. Kirito's nervousness has all but gone and was replaced by a stream of horny hormones running in his blood. He was so pumped up to do this. He was about to take off Asuna's shirt to view her in full detail, she was his now.

"Asuna-san, Kirito-kun, I came over to vis… HOLY SHIT!" Asuna and Kirito looked up, only to see a shell-shocked Klein standing at their bedroom door. Asuna hurried whacked Kirito in his crotch, causing him to fly around 5 feet away and landed in a shout of pain.

"Klein… It's not what you think it is, this person wanted to do it and things just turned out this way…" Asuna told Klein hurriedly while maintaining an angry face.

"What are you talking about Asuna; you are the one that started this! And Klein, why are you trespassing without any permission." Kirito burst back at both of them.

"I thought I could just come here for a visit. Besides, I have some stuff to discuss with you two. It is about the Angel of Death, or whatever his name." Klein said.

"Yes, what about him has caused you to run all the way here?"

Unknown POV: So this is where they live, nice house. I knocked on the door, and soon enough, the young lady I had seen from our last meeting emerged. "Welcome," she said. But I did not feel welcome enough as soon as I laid eyes on the red haired man in the room.

"It is you eh, from last night. Your people certainly did a good job of pissing me off. Unfortunately, you could not back up your words with action."

He did not reply and I could hear Kirito and Asuna's shout of terror and shock as Klein pulled out his Katana and charged headlong into me, causing me to block him almost instantly with my swords. So, he wants a duel, I will give him a duel.

Asuna and Kirito POV: Klein-san, what happened?

**That's it guys, done with chapter 4. School life and writing is really taking a toll on me but it's alright as long as you all appreciate my story. :).**


	5. SAO Chapter 5: Author

**Hey guys, it's me again (screw this intro, its overused) but never mind, I am here to bring you the 5****th**** chapter of this fanfiction XD. School life is really boring and is impeding my writing speed due to the huge amount of brain power I waste every day.**

**This isn't really a chapter (spoiler alert) this is an author's note.**

**I am here to gather reviews and suggestions on what to put in the story. I have already thought of the main story arc and will post the new chapter by the weekend but I want you people to give me what to put in the story to keep u guys entertained.**

**So ya guys, please support thanks. **


	6. SAO Chapter 5: What happened, Klein?

**Hey viewers, I'm back with my 5****th**** chapter, please enjoy.**

**High school is really boring; everyday it's just math formulas over and over again. Today, I fell asleep in class :) and had to be woken up by my teacher who was obviously very mad. Therefore, writing this and bringing it to you is really a good break from algebra. **

"But Klein, why, this person saved us from getting murdered by the monster in the hidden dungeon," Asuna said.

Klein did not heed Asuna and Kirito's shocked words and yells as he continued to plunge his katana towards his opponent's torso. Meanwhile, the White Knight just blocked it over and over again without using any offensive move.

Otonashi POV:

This is really annoying; I hope that Kirito and Asuna speak up soon to ask this mad friend of theirs to stop trying to murder me. Anymore and I will unleash my full might on this, probably mid-level fighter. He stands no chance against me, yet I am not killing him. My own decision puzzled me, why am I not simply finishing him off? What happened to my cold-blooded side? I then looked at Kirito and Asuna, who are still shouting futilely at this Klein to stop fighting me. It was because of them, that I refuse to kill this man. However, no amount of shouting from those two will be able to stop this man in front of me, driven to madness by spilled blood. The only way is to spill more blood, and then after spilling more blood, you have to spill even more blood. Was it a mistake to do what I did last night? Was it a mistake to play this game?

"Klein, stop it!" Kirito hollered with such force that both men whose swords were clashing, creating sparks stopped immediately.

"Klein-san, what happened last night?"

"He happened!" Klein shot a death glare at the White Knight.

"He murdered my friends. Yesterday, I saw that you were with him, so I thought that you people were in danger. You people cannot trust this man, he has killed countless of players, and can't you see the red name tag on him? Anyway, yesterday, my friends and I from my guild tracked him down to do him in before he could become a danger to any one of you. He turned around and without any emotion, stabbed one of my men in the back. As my other friends converged on him, he murdered every single one of them." Klein stopped with tears in his eyes, unable to bear the pain of losing almost all his friends and people in his guild.

"No way… He is a good person, he saved me and Asuna yesterday…" Kirito looked lost while staring at Otonashi, wondering if this person had a different face than he put on.

"Klein, are you sure… Otonashi… did you really kill all of them…?" Asuna also looked at them with a shocked expression.

"Kirito-kun, Asuna-san, yesterday night was an unfortunate incident. I was alone in the woods, having teleported away from the sea after forcing a teleport out of the area for both of you. Then, Klein's men turned up, hurling abuses at me. At one point, one of them must have lost control of his emotions. I knew why, since I murdered his girlfriend at one point of playing the game. Seeing me, his feelings of hatred will have spilled over and he charged towards me, and with him, the whole bunch of people. I was merely using my speed for self-defence at first, only using countermoves and blocking whatever attacks they launched at me. However, due to the game's flaws, I accidentally activated the Iron Rain special move, which caused me to activate a huge combo move which killed them all off. I did not use the ability knowingly; the game activated it for me. That was what happened last night. Klein, if your men did not go and find me, none of this will have happened and I assure you, I mean no ill to Kirito and Asuna." Otonashi explained.

"You… You… monster, you killed them all off cold-heartedly. Kirito, if you still consider this man as your friend, then you will lose me as your friend. Goodbye." Klein said to Kirito while sobbing for his fallen comrades.

"Klein-san!" Asuna and Kirito both shouted as Klein headed out of the door, into the streets, before vanishing from their friend list.

"I guess I have to go too, sorry for intruding on your privacy. I was about to invite you people out for dinner too, but seeing how things turned out, it's better if I stay away. Bye for now, Asuna, Kirito." Otonashi said to them.

"Otonashi-kun, don't leave us. Since we lost Klein already, I do not want to lose you as well." Kirito shouted at the already turning around Otonashi.

"Otonashi-kun… please don't leave us." Asuna also pleaded with the Archangel to stay.

"I will stay with you. But for now, I will take my leave, Klein is right, I am a dangerous person. It is unadvisable for me to be around you. Perhaps one day, you will find out why."

With that, the White Knight teleported out of the area, leaving behind a still shocked Asuna and Kirito.

Kirito POV: Who exactly was this person? He said something about forcing a teleport out of the area, isn't that what a GM does? But I thought, he was not a GM, then, what exactly are you, Otonashi?

While Kirito was still lost in thought, his interface suddenly popped up and so did Asuna's. It was Heathcliff, calling them back for a meeting.

Grandzam, Level 55

"As the Knights of the Blood Oath are aware, the recon force for clearing this dungeon in Level 74 has been all but wiped out. Now, we have gathered 25 fighters from our guild to clear that dungeon. We will need the strongest to lead the group and thus, Kirito will be your frontline commander. I will not be going on this dungeon clearing since I have some administrative affairs to sort out."

After Heathcliff left, a host of murmuring and whispering filled the room as Asuna and Kirito just sat there quietly.

"Does the administrative affair have to do with the White Knight?" one of the Knights said to the room.

"Who knows?" "Probably, I heard that he has been to this place before, and there was even a rumour that he is seeking to join this guild!" Many answers from everyone appeared and found their way to Kirito's ears.

"Guys, let's leave for the dungeon, enough discussion."

"Yes sir." The men said in unison as they trudged to the teleporter which transported them to Level 74, The Valley of Death. The area is known for its secret dungeon which claimed the lives of countless warriors from countless guilds already. The most recent accident involved the Knights of the Blood Oath, in which 10 men lost their lives to the boss. The members from the guild walked carefully along the valley, not wanting to be surprised by the boss.

As they reached the middle of the valley, there was an ominous silence, the calm before the storm. As one of the men took a step forward, he fell into a gigantic hole that was not there before. His screams of agony were soon heard as the monster popped out. It read, The Acid Viper.

"What… in the world is that?" Asuna whispered to Kirito as she clung onto him, looking straight into the poisonous yellow eyes of the oversized King of the Reptiles.

**Well that's it guys. Oh yes, a bit of a spoiler, this story will probably have more than one arc, maybe up to 4 arcs if I can write that long. So look forward to it.**

**Until next time, ja ne! **


	7. SAO Chapter 6: Kayaba Akihiko

**Hey people, how's life, I promised to upload some chapters over the weekend to make up for the days missed when I was having school and other stuff in life. Well first off, I would like you people's thoughts on how is the story so far, as well as if you want me to do a second arc of this story. But for now, please enjoy this chapter. :)**

"What… on Earth is that?!" The 25 elite Knights of the Blood Oath all said as the giant snake swirled at them while throwing the bitten knight away onto the walls of the canyon, where he turned into polygons and vanished forever. In the flash of an eye, the viper threw its massive head into the battle, lashing out at the group of knights. Trained in combat, the knights scattered immediately, causing the snake to smash onto the canyon walls instead of them. The viper was clearly very annoyed as it reared up and coiled up its abnormally long body and turned around, tongue flailing in the air.

"All knights, attack!" Kirito shouted as he swung the Dark Abyss and Elucidator into action, whipping them around while dealing blow after blow on the massive coils of the snake. The other knights charged, some of them holding shields and swords, while others spears. Flashes of multiple colours could be seen around the snake as they attacked. The snake however, did not seem to be bothered by these attacks as it swung around its head, baring its fangs and smashing into the ground.

"Starburst Stream!" Kirito shouted as his swords whirled around in mid-air, slicing the lower body parts of the snake. All the other men continued their ferocious attacks as they concentrated their hits on the snake's abdomen. The snake's health continued to decrease as it launched futile attacks against SAO's elite. Due to the high-level 6th sense attribute all of the Knights had, they managed to dodge the snake's lunges. The snake's health drained down to yellow and the knights seeing this launched another wave of furious attacks at it with renewed confidence.

However, just as Kirito activated the Eclipse, a 64 hit combo against the snake, the snake suddenly burrowed into the ground and disappeared. The knights looked around, as they knew that the snake was going to reappear any second. Just then, the ground below them began to shake.

"Everyone, get away from that patch of land!" Kirito shouted, knowing what was going to happen.

However, it was too late; the snake came out from the ground like a huge jack in the box and lifted at least 5 knights off the ground while wrapping its tail around two knights, squeezing the life out of them as they instantly disappeared into polygons. Those who were lifted into the air were not lucky either. They fell to the ground near the snake, except there was no ground there, there was a huge acid pool surrounding the snake. They fell inside, their health degenerating at 25% per second and most of them just vanished instantly due to the fact that they took damage earlier.

Those who were lucky enough to escape were not doing well either, they were slammed against the wall of the canyon as the snake advanced on them, taking advantage of their temporary immobile state. Kirito got up, only to see the snake plunge towards them at an incredible speed. He only barely managed to push Asuna out of the way when the snake crashed into the walls, instantly crushing and eliminating two more knights.

The knights, bruised and battered, still managed to form a wall in their defensive positions as the snake continued to chip away at the health of the knights. The knights also had to deal with the fact that parts of the valley walls were starting to collapse, limiting the space which they could move to. The snake's health was barely touched.

"Why don't we trap the snake using the rocks of the valley wall? It might work. Besides, we don't have the power to continue this battle anymore, nearly half our squad have fallen." One of the Knights said.

"It might work, but who has the strength here to break down part of the valley wall?"

"I will go, the rest of you distract the snake." Kirito said.

"Yes sir!" The knights said with renewed determination as they all swung their swords in unison and charged towards the viper with ferocious roars. Asuna, meanwhile, decided to follow Kirito and help him break down the rocks.

Grandzam, Level 55

"So, you want to join the Knights of the Blood Oath?" said the leader dressed in red.

"Yes I do," said the Archangel, "What is the point of not joining the strongest guild when you can? Of course, it also benefits you as well; there is a limit to how much solo players can go to so why not create a win-win situation where we both benefit?"

"Very well, you may join us, but can you first reveal who are you?"

"As for that, Heathcliff, I will only reveal myself when I want to, you have no right to force me to do so." The Archangel said that with a smirk.

"Alright then, I will not force you to reveal yourself. Here is your coat, go ahead and wear it."

"Sure." The Archangel put on his new coat in the place of his pure white one, now under the red and white colours of the Knights of the Blood Oath.

"And now, I might want to introduce you to the basic rul…." Heathcliff was cut off halfway as his interface beeped and turned a bright red. He grimaced, knowing that this meant that some of his knights have fallen and require assistance from him.

"Never mind, for now, you follow me; there is a job we have to do. The Archangel obeyed silently and they both walked over to the teleporter and teleported to the Valley of Death.

Valley of Death, Level 74

"Just a bit more… Just a bit more…" Kirito said while he applied the maximum pressure onto the weakened rocks of the valley. The rest of the knights gallantly fought on, despite most of them having 50% health or less. They were a one minded, collective individual as they fought on to trap the snake.

"Kirito! Let me help you!" Asuna shouted as she came to where Kirito was and battered the rocks with her sword. Kirito looked at Asuna and smiled, before continuing to use his special attacks to batter the rocks.

After what seemed like eternity, the weakened rocks finally gave way and the knights all leapt back in unison, shouting in triumph as the rocks collapsed onto the hideous viper and covered it, making it roar out in indignation.

"Looks like we done it eh, Asuna?" Kirito said to Asuna as they both leapt off the valley wall they just demolished.

Just then, an almighty hiss shattered the silence in the air as the snake burst out, dissolving all the rocks around it using acid and swiped its tail straight at Kirito and Asuna, who were caught off guard. They were both knocked off their feet and flew onto the ground with a crash. The snake, taking advantage of their temporary shock, lunged at them with its mouth wide open, fangs bared, ready to deliver the final blow. It went for Asuna first, lunging in for the kill. Kirito, seeing this, immediately pushed Asuna aside while the other knights gathered her to safety. He, meanwhile, drawed his swords and pushed against the enormous mass of muscle that was crushing down on him. His health was grinded to 0% at such a quick speed.

"Kirito!" Asuna shouted as she saw the love of her life getting overpowered by the snake. Kirito's health went closer and closer to 0 as he felt all his strength drain from him. Asuna could only watch on in horror as Kirito dropped to his knees, still smiling at her as the snake smashed its tail towards him.

"KIRITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Asuna shouted as she closed her eyes as tears welled up as she thought of what was inevitable to happen.

Kirito POV: Am I really going to die? Is this the end for me? Asuna, don't cry, you are only losing me, a person who never deserved you.

The snake's tail then smashed down on him, causing him to fade rapidly.

"Sayonara, Asuna."

"Heal!"

"What?!" all the knights exclaimed as they heard the familiar voice of Heathcliff. Looking up, they saw their leader dressed in full red armour, looking magnificent as ever as he raised a healing potion that was directed towards Kirito. Beside him though, was a hooded man, wearing the standard uniform of the Knights of the Blood Oath, yet still looking frighteningly dangerous and familiar. That's right, it was the Archangel.


	8. SAO Chapter 7: Invincible

**Hey guys, it is indeed me again, sorry for the late update, I had to do a school project these few days. But for now, enjoy this chapter. :)**

"We are saved!" the remaining Knights shouted as they saw their leader along with the Archangel, who is probably the strongest player in the game.

The Archangel leapt down and delivered a few swift blows to the snake's body, causing it to writhe in pain and release Kirito. He then, grabbed Kirito and leapt towards the rest of the Knights, handing them the staggering and still shocked Kirito.

"Thank god…" Asuna embraced Kirito tightly.

Meanwhile, the Archangel leapt back into action with the leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath at his side, against a snake which was very angry that its meal got stolen just when it was going to eat it. Heathcliff drew out his usual sword and shield while the Archangel whipped out his dual swords. The snake slammed its whole body towards them, slamming them into a wall. However, they came out unscathed and still standing confidently as the Archangel turned on his combination attack "Apocalypse". He rammed into the snake with his dual swords and left scar after scar on the snake. However, the snake was still a force to be reckoned with as it unbalanced the Archangel while baring its deadly fangs and biting down on him. At this time, Heathcliff jumped into the action, blocking the attack easily using his shield.

Kirito and Asuna stared open mouthed at the amount of chemistry those two had. They knew when to switch, when to cover each other, when to attack without even saying anything to each other. Considering they have never fought together before, it is quite a unique feat.

Otonashi POV:

He said something to me, "I would need your third sword to finish this serpent off."

"How did you know I have a third sword?"

"The two swords you are using, Eternal Light and Blazing Flames come with a third sword, the Excalibur. The one who possesses the Excalibur will be the one that finishes off the serpent king." Heathcliff explained his theory.

"Alright then, just this once, considering we have ties." The Archangel replied as he drawed out his third sword, the golden Excalibur and handed it to Heathcliff.

"Switch!" Heathcliff leapt back into the fray as he took out the Excalibur and sliced the snake with the legendary weapon. While Heathcliff held it off with a shield to prepare him to attack the snake once more, the Archangel would jump in, giving the serpent a substantial number of hits with both of his swords.

Seeing this, Kirito and Asuna decided to re-join the fight as Kirito pulled out the Dark Abyss and Elucidator while the Lambent Light danced in the air as Asuna charged up to the snake to engage it. The four of them switched around with perfect chemistry as the snake's health began to drop at an extremely fast rate. The snake then pulled out the same trump card as before, burrowing into the ground, confusing the players fighting it. Kirito and Asuna both grimaced, both knowing what will happen when the snake unburrows. Even Heathcliff's brows furrowed, making him look worried and confused at what was going on. Only the Archangel managed a confident smile on his face.

"Hell's gate!" he said as he thrust both swords down into the ground, instantly tearing apart the ground in the valley, and filling it up with lava. Only about 3 seconds later, the snake leapt out of the ground in agony as the lava dried up and consumed all its acid and made it impossible for it to go below the ground level. The ground then split into 2 and the snake fell inside and then, the ground closed itself on the snake, draining its health to 0.

A "Congratulations" popped up as the players received the drops from the quest, nursing their wounds and mourning for those gone. Of those gone, two of them were some of the most prominent players in Sword Art Online; they have lost another 2 good players, and a bit of a chance of clearing the game with them.

Otonashi POV: I gritted my teeth, why did there have to be death in this game. In other MMOs there are respawn functions, why is there no such thing in this game? We lost 7 men today; some of the most elite players of this game and our chances of clearing the game have dropped lower than before. This is not what you promised me, Kayaba Akihiko.

"Here is your sword, white knight; it was certainly a good sword, take care of it." Heathcliff handed the Archangel his sword back. "And for now, please do me a favour by living with Kirito-kun and Asuna." Heathcliff said to him.

"Ooo….okay…" the Archangel said as he approached Kirito and Asuna. "Looks like we will be living together from now on." he said, with a slight grin on his face.

"You are welcome, Otonashi-kun." Asuna and Kirito both seemed quite enthusiastic about the plan Heathcliff gave them. "Our house is pretty big anyway, so you can just pick a room and then sleep in there." Kirito replied with a smile.

I could feel a grin; yes a truthful grin, something that I did not have in 2 years now creeping up my face. Unable to contain it any longer, I smiled widely. I would never get these two, why do they make me smile so much?

Level 22, Kirito's house

"Wow, you two certainly invested quite a bit into this house." Otonashi said as he looked around the huge living room and the furniture in there.

"Yeah, we certainly did, Kirito and I paid for all the stuff." Asuna said.

"By us u mean I paid for the stuff right?" Kirito replied with an annoyed voice and a slightly annoyed face.

"Whatever, Otonashi-kun, make yourself comfortable."

"Okay." Otonashi said as he pulled out his inventory and placed down his furniture in the room he now lived in. Sighing, he lay on the bed and fell asleep, utterly defeated by the few events that happened the few days ago.

"Otonashi, it's time for dinner! Otonashi, are you alright? Oh," Asuna said as she discovered a sleeping Otonashi on the bed. Kirito walked up to her and smiled, "He may be too tired. Sometimes being the best player in SAO really drains your physical and mental strength. I knew that from last time, when I thought I was the best player in SAO, I thought I had to lead guilds and clear the floors in order to beat the game."

"You're right, let's let him sleep; he looks really cute when he's asleep." Asuna said.

"Asuna, are you cheating on me for him?" Kirito asked again with the pissed-off voice.

"Of course not, we are married remember?" Asuna replied impatiently.

"Oh…" Kirito suddenly found himself speechless.

"Baka Kirito," Asuna smiled as she pulled him in for a blissful kiss.

Meanwhile, Otonashi has entered his dreams.

**That's it guys, that's chapter 6, hope you enjoyed and see you people next time. Bye…..**


	9. SAO Chapter 8: The swordsmith

**Hey all of my viewers, I am indeed back from project work. That means that I can upload these chapters at a faster rate. Here is chapter 8 of this fanfiction, please enjoy. Oh yes, by the way, I am planning to add an Accel World Arc to this fanfiction, what do you guys think? Please post your thoughts in the reviews forum thanks.**

"Otonashi, wake up already." Kirito shook his new roommate and he woke up, still rubbing his eyes.

"Otonashi, we are going out today, so quickly wake up and get dressed, we are going out soon." Kirito said in a bright voice as Otonashi jumped out of bed and changed his clothes back to the pure white coat and hood.

"Kirito, Otonashi, breakfast is ready!" Asuna said as she carried some sandwiches from the kitchen and handed then to Kirito and Otonashi, earning gasps of surprise and admiration as they both praised her cooking. Otonashi, gobbled down his sandwich, unable to believe how long he had not eaten these sort of good food. Meanwhile, Kirito and Asuna were sharing a joke, laughing hard at each other. Meanwhile, Otonashi looked over with a true smile on his face for the first time in two years.

Otonashi POV: Wow, I would never have imagined that living with these two would bring such enjoyment. For the first time, I think I am actually enjoying Sword Art Online. It has been a while since it was created, I will free all the people. But, once I leave this world, will I meet Kirito and Asuna again? Will I be able to find the people who made me smile in this world of despair, of death?

"Otonashi…Otonashi?" I looked up to find out Kirito leaning over me slightly, him poking my face.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself Kirito, I may be living in your house now, but that does not mean you could do such acts to be indiscriminately." I replied coldly.

"Come on, Otonashi-kun, don't be such a narrow minded person. You spaced out for quite a while you know?" Asuna defended her husband's actions.

"Alright then, where are we going?" I asked.

"Oh, we are going to Liz's forge, to get our swords upgraded." Kirito replied Otonashi.

"That sounds good; I may be able to check the statistics of my sword as well. I did not check my swords so far…" Otonashi said to the couple.

"Alright then, let's go!" Asuna said as all three of them pulled out a crystal and warped to the level where Lizbeth's forge was located.

While walking to Lizbeth's forge, many comments and whispers were heard along the street.

"Isn't this the Archangel, Kirito and Asuna?" "What are they doing here?" "Is the Archangel going to kill them or duel them?"

All three of them ignored the comments made and continued walking until they reached their destination. Asuna ringed on the bell and a girl with short and pink hair came out to greet them.

"Oh! Asuna-san, it has been such a long time! What can I help you with?" Lizbeth jumped at Asuna and hugged her, while the two men just watched on.

"Oh, Kirito, you are here as well! Come in, come in," Lizbeth said to them, completely ignoring the presence of the Archangel.

After they entered the forge, it was then when Lizbeth noticed the white hooded man standing behind Kirito.

"It couldn't be… Is it really, the White Knight?" Lizbeth covered her mouth in shock as the best player in Sword Art Online showed up at her forge. She then realised how much of a good customer he would make, his swords were the stuff of legend, the Eternal Light and Blazing Flame, both of them are rumoured to render the user invincible. A latest sighting has also started a rumour that the Archangel was the owner of the Excalibur, the King of Swords. It is the best sword there is in the game.

"So… Kirito, Asuna, how did you end up with him, isn't he a solo player who rarely talks to anyone?" Lizbeth could prevent herself from feeling curious.

"It's a long story, but he isn't a solo player anymore, he joined our guild and he now lives with us. Since I needed to repair my swords, he tagged along to come here." Kirito explained.

"Otonashi-kun may be fierce looking on the outside, but he is actually a good friend." Asuna added.

"Oh, so you guys are now friends with Otonashi." Lizbeth said almost in a bored voice.

"Otonashi, this is Lizbeth, we call here Liz." Asuna was explaining to Otonashi.

"Hello, nice to meet you, Lizbeth-chan." He held out his hand while removing his hood.

"Oh…Hi…" He's so handsome, thought Lizbeth.

"So now, let's get to the job shall we?" Lizbeth said to Kirito.

"Okay," Kirito replied as he drawed out his swords, the Dark Abyss, the Dark Repulsor and the Elucidator.

"Kirito, I didn't know that you had a third sword." Lizbeth said as she took up the Dark Abyss.

Dark Abyss:

Damage: 950

Speed: 900

Durability: 950

Weight: 950

Level Required: Single Handed Sword Skill: 1000/1000

"Kirito… Where did you get such a powerful sword?" Lizbeth asked while glancing at the extremely high statistics.

"It was because of Otonashi. He killed the dungeon monster even before me and Asuna even got into the action. He literally murdered it within 5 seconds. But back to the job, Liz, can you please help me repair my swords?" Kirito said to Lizbeth.

"Sure Kirito," Lizbeth said as she walked into the forge to start repairing Kirito's swords. However, her mind was on the Archangel and his swords, what could they be?

Soon, Kirito's swords were repaired and Lizbeth walked to him, handing to him his swords. After that, she requested to see the Archangel's swords.

"Otonashi, can you let me see your swords?" Lizbeth asked.

"Err… "Otonashi stammered, not sure if to hand Lizbeth the swords or not.

"Otonashi, just give her your swords, it shouldn't be any trouble." Kirito and Asuna both said, urging the Archangel to give Lizbeth his swords for analysis.

"Okay, I will trust her." Otonashi handed over his swords to Lizbeth, betraying the rule he had abided by for the past two years, never to hand over his swords to any potential enemy or stranger.

"Hmmm… Let's see." Lizbeth took the red and golden sword and examined them. The red sword looked intricate with various designs at the hilt while the golden one looked just like pure light, glowing even when not in use. Lizbeth immediately knew that these were not ordinary swords.

Blazing Flames

Damage: 3000

Speed: 950

Durability: 2000

Weight: 900

Type: Unique/Self-forged sword

Blazing Flames, the sword from hell's forge, a sword created for pure destruction and nothing else. Able to warp entire battlefields and destroy opponents within a matter of seconds, this sword is the ultimate destruction tool for any player wishing to beat Sword Art Online.

Eternal Light

Damage: 2500

Speed: 900

Durability: 4000

Weight: 950

Eternal Light, the sword made by Heaven's own blacksmiths, is a sword capable of similar amounts of destruction as the Blazing Flames, but is better known for its healing powers. This sword is rumoured to contain god's own spirit and power inside it, giving it an almost impenetrable invincibility.

"Wow… Just wow…" Kirito said while looking at the swords in amazement. So that's why he hadn't been able to beat the Archangel in their first duel, his swords simply dealt too less damage compared to the ones of the Archangel. He remembered that he had drained him dry of hit points with just one combination attack.

Meanwhile, Lizbeth and Asuna just stared in shock at the swords but were distracted while the Archangel pulled out another sword. The gleaming gold and blue hue of the sword lighted the room even more than the red and golden glows of the dual swords.

"No way… It's the Excalibur!" Lizbeth exclaimed as she saw the legendary god of the swords.

Excalibur

Damage: 5000

Speed: 1000

Durability: 5000

Weight: 1000

The Excalibur, god of the swords, the weapon used to destroy enemies of god, a holy weapon in other words. This weapon is only summoned when its user is sensed to be above human levels of strength, cunningness, agility and skill, the one who owns this sword will most probably be the one to see through the endgame.

"May I have my swords back now?" Otonashi asked impatiently as Lizbeth just stared blankly at the swords that he owned.

"Ok…" Lizbeth handed back the swords, trembling in shock at what she just saw. The Archangel was certainly, not a normal player.

"That's all, Lizbeth; we will take our leave now." Kirito, Asuna and Otonashi all waved goodbye to the blacksmith and walked back towards the city to teleport back to Kirito's lodge.

"What a day… Otonashi, how did you get such powerful swords?" Kirito asked Otonashi.

"Hardship, sweat, blood, that's how." Otonashi replied with a flat, emotionless tone while keeping his hood down.

"Oh I see," Kirito smiled at his enemy and friend when the Archangel suddenly silenced him with a gesture and turned around abruptly. Kirito followed suit, only to see Asuna getting dragged away by a few black hooded men while emitting a scream of terror.

**Dun dun dun… Cliff-hanger here haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review this story. Thanks, from the author, until next time. :).**

**Ja ne-**


	10. SAO Chapter 9: The True Archangel

**Hi people, I am here again to bring you another chapter of this fanfiction that I have been writing for some time now. And yes, I have an update to bring you guys, from now on, I will make my chapters longer to satisfy all your needs and therefore, that means that I need to have more ideas on what to write so be patient if I have a slow uploading rate. Thanks to all of the viewers and reviewers. :) Enjoy chapter 9.**

"Ahh!" Asuna screamed as she felt two pairs of hands roughly grab her from behind and drag her into a dark alley.

"Asuna!" Kirito shouted as he turned around and saw Asuna's terrifying situation. Just as Asuna's captivators disappeared down the alley, Kirito saw the mark of a skull on their arms. It was the men from the guild of murderers, Laughing Coffin.

The Archangel also turned around, and saw the situation Asuna was in.

"Otonashi, we need to save her!" Kirito shouted as he bolted down the street into the alley. The Archangel soon followed suit. Due to their imperious speed skills, they quickly tracked down the murderers, who were all 'Red' players.

"Give her back to us!" Kirito yelled at the members from the Laughing Coffin.

"Oh… Why should we, she's so cute. We are going to have some fun with her once we get back to our house and just some logical reasoning, do you plan to take on us yourself?" The leader of the men sneered at Kirito.

As if to answer that question, the Archangel stepped out of the shadows into full view of the men.

"Oh, I see that you have brought company here. The black swordsman and the White Knight, I get to fight them both at once? How lucky, not many gamers out there fancy to miss this chance." The lead man was still unflappable even while facing the strongest player in the game.

"I do not want to hurt you, so quickly back off and return Asuna to us." The Archangel replied coldly to the man's words.

"I think that the question of you hurting us is seriously doubtable," said one of the other men, who pressed his sword dangerously close to Asuna's throat.

"We will kill her if you try to even attack us," another man said.

"Not bad, using the usual hostage method to goad your opponents into surrendering and then killing the hostage anyway. However, all of you underestimate me."

A sound of a slash vibrated through the air as well as a scream of agony as the man holding Asuna collapsed to the ground and disappeared into polygons instantly. Behind him, the Archangel landed gracefully with a swirl of his cape.

"What?! You can move that fast? Looks like this will be a battle worth fighting for. However, the outcome stays the same. You will lose." The members from the Laughing Coffin all drew their swords. They charged at the two strongest players in SAO without fear or any hesitation. The black swordsman and Archangel faced their enemies without fear either. They waited for their enemies to be upon them, before parrying all their moves with a single stroke of their swords.

They spun around after their initial attacks and continued to hack away at Kirito and the Archangel's health. They were no normal players, as most normal players would have collapsed simply from the power of the Archangel's parry, they however, carried on fighting them and scored hit after hit at the two players, since they outnumber the two. Meanwhile, the leader of the men guarded Asuna and made sure that she could not escape and join the fight.

Archangel POV: This is too easy, they appear to land hits on me, but my health regeneration rate is beyond what they can imagine. Enough messing around already, I will finish them off.

"Apocalypse," the Archangel said with an icy tone and both of his swords powered up. They glowed a golden and blood red as he whirled around to attack the men with his killer move, instantly overwhelming them with his speed and accuracy. All the men were put through a meat-grinder and their health decreased at a rapid rate, hitting red by the time the Archangel finished his move.

"Not bad, you guys are still standing eh? Then I guess I will finish you now. God's Wrath!" the Archangel activated his ultimate special ability and moved towards the men at a unimaginable rate, instantly cutting down two men, making them disappear into polygons while the other five trembled in fear as they thought of the fate that awaited them at the hands of the Archangel. Kirito just stood aside, not wanting to get in the way of the Archangel.

"Honestly, do you think that we two are so weak that we cannot fight off people with such a low level?" the Archangel questioned the leader as he marched in for the kill.

"You think that we would be so easily defeated? If you thought so, think again," the leader pulled off his hood and revealed a face with long grey hair.

"Kuradeel!" Asuna and Kirito both shouted in shock at the same time as they faced a fellow Knight of the Blood Oath.

"Kuradeel, but why did you do this?" Asuna said as she thought of the times when Kuradeel was still her bodyguard. He had only loyalty to commander Heathcliff and her, so how did he become as member of this notorious guild of murderous.

"It was because of him," Kuradeel pointed at Kirito. "He was the cause of me joining the guild. He was the one who stole Asuna from me, I was the one tasked to protect her, no, I was the one who wanted to protect her!" Kuradeel said with a deranged face.

"Now that you have done what you did, I am here to kill you!"

"Enough talk already, lets finish this fight," the Archangel leapt into one of his burst sprints once more, seemingly teleporting to fight Kuradeel. It looked to be all over as he sprinted to Kuradeel's side and swung his sword. However, Kuradeel just smiled and took out a bottle; he smashed that bottle on the ground that caused dust and a pink coloured particle to stir up, covering them all. When the fog dissipated, Asuna, Kirito and the Archangel could be seen on the ground with a sign of poisoned and paralyzed on them.

"You people are too simple; do you think I will fight all of you without some sort of insurance policy?" Kuradeel sneered at the three of them, who gritted their teeth in frustration as they were outwitted. "Don't worry, the poison will wear off eventually, however, you will be dead before it disappears."

Two more men in hoods appeared and took hold of the three of them, and dragged them to a dark and run down house. They threw them onto the ground as Kuradeel reappeared.

"Well, well, the mighty Archangel, now so weak." Kuradeel smirked at the Archangel, who simply remained speechless and emotionless. "Too bad for all of you, I am going to kill both of you, and then have Asuna all to me."

After saying that, Kuradeel pulled out two swords and stabbed them each into Kirito and the Archangel, rendering them completely immobile and unable to interfere with what Kuradeel was about to do to Asuna. Kirito's health also decreased at an abnormal rate, probably due to the poison and sword both affecting him and draining him of health. The Archangel's health also decreased, but at a slower pace, due to his regeneration.

"Now, my dear vice-commander, shall we have fun?" Kuradeel asked as he approached Asuna and breathed into her ear, causing her to struggle. He then took Asuna up and licked her face. Asuna's eyes contorted as she was getting violated by this disgusting man. Kirito could only watch on as his wife was getting violated by this man that he hated with a passion, ever since his duel with him.

"Stop it… STOP IT!" Kirito yelled as Kuradeel approached to lick her face once more and moved his hands over inappropriate places. Kirito stood up, swords in hand as the other sword was cleanly pulled out of his body.

"But, how did you do that? I had paralysis on you!" Kuradeel said as Kirito charged at him.

"Never mind, it's alright, I will still finish you off easily." Kuradeel pulled out a sword with sharp edges. "Kirito, do you see this? This is a sword that will deal the same amount of damage to a player of any level, and that will be your killer." Kuradeel stabbed the sword into Kirito and watched as his health drain away. Kirito fell down to the ground, unconscious.

"Kirito!" Asuna yelled as the man she had loved with all her heart collapsed onto the ground with a rapidly degenerating health.

"Wow, seriously, I get to kill him so quickly, that's boring, I expected better from him." Kuradeel said with a smirk as he went to violate Asuna even further.

Archangel POV: I guess I have no choice; the only way is to show as little of it as possible.

"System login, ID Archangel," the Archangel said as he logged in with a new ID.

"System command, enable Administrator commands, set ID Kuradeel to level 1, set paralysis on ID Kuradeel." The Archangel tried to say it as soft as possible to prevent his companions from finding out what happened. "System command, set ID Kirito to Immortal Object for 10 seconds, heal ID Kirito."

Kuradeel fell to the ground, with a reset on his skill levels as he looked up in fear when he realised that his enemies were now free from his paralysis and now stood above him. What frightened him especially was Kirito's expression; his face was contorted in rage as he took out both of his swords. "Please don't, I promise that I will never do this again." Kuradeel pleaded with Kirito, who just plunged his sword towards Kuradeel as he covered his face with his hands, waiting for the end to come.

Just as the swords were about to hit Kuradeel, a clanging sound could be heard as his sword blow was parried by the Archangel.

"Why did you stop me from killing this disgusting creature?" Kirito asked, puzzled at the Archangel's behaviour.

The Archangel's face was hidden behind his hood as he looked down.

"I owe this man a favour; he was the one who guided me through the early stages of this game. Furthermore, I… just don't want to see people die," the Archangel answered Kirito with a slightly shaky voice.

"Kuradeel, you got lucky this time, but you will not escape the law anyway." Kirito pulled out a warp crystal and warped Kuradeel to a prison beneath the city.

"Let's go then, today was such a long day, we will need a rest."

The trio then teleported back to Kirito's lodge. After having dinner there, they all went to bed.

"What's the matter Otonashi? You can't sleep?" Kirito questioned as the Archangel still sat on the bed. "Never mind, I want to question you anyway. Why did you prevent me from killing Kuradeel, having that man in this world is nothing but harmful."

"I may have killed many players in this game. But I always killed them as a last resort, when they could not be controlled by words or slight injuries anymore. I also tried to kill the least number of them. It's just that, I don't want people to die already. People in this world are fathers, sons, brothers, sisters, how do you think their family would feel if I killed them? Besides, Kuradeel is a kind man in real life, I know him from my childhood, he was a father who I never had, and he was the one that indirectly made Sword Art Online possible."

"But, still, why would you not want people to die?"

"It's the same reason why you would never forgive the person that killed Asuna or did something bad to her. I used to have a person I loved, and I found her in SAO, she was such an intelligent person. Her personality suited me and we both levelled up together, with me progressing much faster due to my experience. I then felt that I loved her after I saved her from a monster at a dungeon. I proposed to her not long after and she accepted. Just as we were going to get married, our guild leader called us to the front lines, and it was there where… where…" Otonashi said while tears fell from his eyes.

"After that, I vowed that I would be the one that clear the game, because I could not forgive the creator of the game, nor can I forgive myself. I did not want people to die in this game again, it was too unfair."

"So that's why you did not want to kill people, it was because you knew the pain of losing a loved one."

"That's not all, the most prominent reason I did not want people to die was because of my father. When I was 7, we were walking down a street to go to the convenience store. I did not pay attention while walking across the street and a care bore down on me, causing me to stay still at the spot in shock. My father, seeing that, barrelled me out of the way and took the hit himself. He was hospitalized and died soon after. My mother remarried but I only thought of my father as the one I lost, the one that will never come back. I never wanted to kill people in SAO as I knew how were their families and loved ones will feel."

Kirito POV: I never knew that he had this sort of life. However, I am pretty sure that he said the word Administrator as well as system command during our fight against Kuradeel. But how is that possible, he is not an AI or an Immortal Object. What exactly are you, Otonashi? Are you the one that is presented to me right now, or are you hiding beneath your hood?

**YAY! Finally done with this chapter, took quite a while to write but this flows smoother than when I write essays at school. For now, I guess its goodbye. Until next time I write, Ja ne! **


	11. SAO Chapter 10: The Brotherhood

**Hey viewers, I am here with my next chapter, hope you enjoyed the increased length of last chapter. This chapter will be around the same length as last chapter but the chapters are now taking a longer time to write. Therefore, please be patient with my uploading. Thank you all for supporting this story. Please enjoy :) (Can't resist putting Assassin's creed!)**

What exactly are you, Otonashi? Kirito thought of that as he drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, the Archangel was still up, looking blankly at the wall.

Otonashi POV: This game is horrible. Sure, there are people who can make you happy but the game itself was a mistake. Was it my fault, or was it his fault…

"Wake up Kirito, what happened to you? It is already 10 in the morning! Your breakfast is getting cold!" Kirito groaned as he heard Asuna shout his name right at his ear; sometimes having a wife may bring these sorts of disadvantages to your life.

"Alright, alright, I'm up, there is no need to shout at me." Kirito sat on his bed and looked around his room.

"Asuna, where is Otonashi?"

"Oh, Otonashi left a note saying that he will be on his own today, probably going to hunt mobs and visit some places. Anyway, we are going to visit Silica and Agil today, so we should hurry. I promised that we will be there by lunch, so quickly Kirito."

Kirito quickly got ready and ate his breakfast before getting dragged out by Asuna.

Otonashi POV

"Hello, my friend. What can I do for you?" a man in a black hood and cape asked the Archangel as he walked into the inn.

"Gather all the original ten; I have something to tell them," the Archangel stated coldly, barely even looking at the other man.

"As you say; my leader," the other man bowed and called out to the other 8 men in the inn. They wore similar capes and hoods, but with different colours. Some had grey, some had red, and some had red and white, while some had black, there was even one with a mixture of black and white, they only had one thing in common, and their hoods all had the symbol that signified loyalty to the Archangel.

"So, what has happened, leader? Why did you suddenly call us together after 1 year of not meeting?" one of the men asked.

"The final battle is near; we will take this chance to clear this game forever. When we return to real life, we will find that person and get him arrested." The Archangel said that in a controlled voice.

"But how do you know that the final battle is near?"

"I accidentally allowed one of the companions I was living with find out that I am a system administrator. If this goes on, he will start questioning me, eventually finding out who I am. The problem is, he is one of the best players of SAO, if we lose him, and we may not be able to clear this game once and for all. I already have a plan; we will set up a stage for the final battle at the final boss in Level 75, the Skull Reaper."

"Alright, but how do we set up the battle?"

"Heathcliff, the commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, is planning to clear the 75th floor with the next 2 weeks. Since we are strong enough, we will be able to fight on the front lines. Heathcliff will also send out a recon force, so we will wipe them out and then draw the 20 guilds on the front line into the battle. Kayaba Akihiko will not survive this." the Archangel stated.

"How do you know that Kayaba Akihiko is in one of the frontline guilds?"

"I just know, trust my instincts and the game will be cleared."

"Alright, we will listen to you, leader, when you call us, we will heed."

"Thank you, for now, let us just relax and share a drink. I wonder how long it has been since we did that."

The men were brightened up after hearing that and headed for the nearest bar, Agil's place.

Kirito POV: "Asuna, can you stop pushing me every morning? It has really been a long time since I slept well." Kirito said while yawning and rubbing his eyes as they walked down the street to Agil's place.

"Kirito, you are such a lazy person." Asuna pouted, "But don't worry, that won't stop me from loving you as you are. You certainly like sleeping a lot."

"As I said, its Aincrad's nicest season and weather setting, of course I would like to sleep." Kirito responded somewhat impatiently.

As the two talked, they reached Agil's place, which was busy as usual.

"Hello, Agil, Silica," both of them said as they saw the bald and tanned man behind the counter, wiping some glasses while a cute girl sat opposite him.

"Oh! Kirito, how long has it been? Last time you brought a Ragout Rabbit here and I didn't even get a taste of it, instead, you gave it to Asuna, you know, I still have those bad memories of you Kirito." Agil said with a grin on his face.

"It wasn't really that I did not want to share with you Agil, it was that I wanted to find a person who could cook it. But, since the people who cook it will definitely want it, I have to give it to them." Kirito responded, slightly flustered as Agil reminded him of that time when he was slightly selfish.

"Asuna-san, Kirito-kun, I heard that you are friends with the White Knight, is that true? I heard that he is really cold and has killed many people. One week ago, I was visiting a town on Level 67 and they said that he went on a killing spree there, tearing through the 20 players that were in the town. That's so scary…" Silica asked Kirito and Asuna.

"Silica, we are friends with Otonashi-kun and he isn't really that bad, he is actually quite a good friend to us. He has saved us repeatedly, and I am pretty sure that he does not have such a personality. That might have been someone else, not Otonashi," Kirito answered Silica, frowning as he remembered what the Archangel had said the previous night. Was he lying?

"But… that person had a hood and a cape, as well as the clothing that is exactly the same as the Archangel's, if it was not him then who could it be?" Silica asked Kirito again.

However, Kirito was spared from answering that question as ten men, each wearing the same hood, clothing and cape walked into the bar, each with a different coloured hood, cape and clothing. However, they all seemed to be united, in other words, in the same guild. Kirito quickly spotted the Archangel, he was the one that wore pure white and he walked towards the counter to make an order. Silica grabbed Kirito and hid behind him.

"Kirito… I'm scared… protect me…" Silica said as she gripped onto Kirito's coat from behind.

"Hello, Otonashi-kun," Kirito said with a smile to the Archangel.

"Hello, Kirito, I did not expect you to be here." The Archangel replied with a smile before buying the drinks that he and his companions needed.

"See, Silica, he may look cold but he is actually a very friendly person." Kirito said to Silica, who had stopped gripping Kirito's coat that tightly already. Although he said those friendly words, Kirito stared silently at the Archangel, wondering why he had brought those men into this area.

The Archangel went back to his subordinates and handed them the drinks.

"Was that the person you were talking about leader?" one of them asked.

"Yes, and that girl over there, they are the ones we need to finish this game and end it all in real life," the Archangel answered him.

"They seem pretty weak and young; will they be able to really finish Kayaba Akihiko off?"

"They are stronger than you think. I checked already, one of them is level 100 while the other one is level 102, almost to the maximum level. Of course, I am an administrator, so I can go above level 120. However, that is not enough to kill Kayaba Akihiko; he is an immortal object, the Game Master. He will only deactivate his immortal status when fighting that boy, therefore, we need him to defeat Kayaba Akihiko."

"Sure, it's just that how long we have to wait until the boy manages to find out the truth behind Kayaba Akihiko."

"Soon, Kayaba Akihiko cannot hide behind his mask for eternity; he will show his true colours very soon, if he does not, I assume that the boy will have enough logic to figure out who is Kayaba Akihiko."

Just then, around 30 members from the guild Liberation Army entered the bar. They came with their full armour and held swords at the ready.

"I wonder who they are after here." Asuna said as the Liberation Army members walked around and patrolled the bar carefully, before resting their eyes on a bunch of hooded men sitting at a corner. Asuna let out a gasp as the men slowly and subtly approached their men, swords held up as if they were about to strike out at the men.

Just as they were about to hit one of the hooded men with the sharp blade of the sword that Kirito could see, was clearly poisoned. Two of the Liberation Army members fell down with a scream and vanished into polygons.

"Wait, but they were all sitting down…" Asuna's shock died away as she saw one of the hooded men withdraw two sharp blades into his sleeves. Instead, a feeling of terror began to overwhelm her as all the hooded men began to draw their swords, including the Archangel. Asuna knew that the army would never be a match for them, and would all be slaughtered.

"So, you thought you could catch us all off guard eh? Not bad, but unfortunately for you, we are never off guard," the Archangel stepped forward and sneered at the men, a sneer that was so cold and without emotion that it made Asuna and Kirito tremble.

"Hey now, no fighting in my bar," Agil shouted as the two sides all prepared to fight or if necessary, kill each other.

"Then, shall we take our fight outside?" one of the Army members asked the hooded men.

"Sure, whatever you wish," the Archangel smiled at him.

They trooped outside and Kirito and Asuna followed them, both of them with their hearts pounding as they were afraid that a major bloodshed will happen here.

"So, before we fight, tell us what crime have we committed?" the Archangel asked, oblivious to the fact that 40 more Army members have joined in the original 28 to fight just 10 of them.

"You and your companions are under arrest for wiping out the village on Level 67 and killing all the players there."

"Oh, I see, and what is your definitive proof that we were the ones that committed the crime?"

"Men, forward, arrest these murderers."

20 men from the formation charged while the other 48 of them just continued surrounding the hooded men. The 10 men drew out their swords and swung into action, stabbing, slashing at the men from the Army. They all used single handed swords, along with hidden blades in their sleeves and shoes; they were also armed with poisonous darts. They shot the darts at the 20 men, the ones were dodged were given a combination attacks of whirling swords which took out half of them immediately. The other half lay on the ground, unable to move and thus help their allies. At this point, the remaining Army members abandoned all tactics and charged headlong into the 10 deadly fighters. The Archangel took out both of his swords and warmed up by delivering a few swift hits to the Army members. Noticing that his allies had reduced health, he used his Eternal Light ability. The battle was turning out to be harder than they thought, with the Army employing some ability to render the damaging effect of Eternal Light ineffective.

Just then, 3 hooded men leapt right into the middle circle of 20 Army members and as they recovered from shock, they began attacking the three of them.

"Isn't that suicide?" Asuna covered her mouth at the amount of death that was happening before her eyes.

Then, the three men did something that none of them expected them to do, they pulled out another sword, and began gracefully dance in between the formation, dealing out damage at such a swift rate that many of the Army members did not even manage to cry out before they were dissolved into polygons. Just then, one of the Army members knocked out the Archangel's sword from his hand. However, before he could capitalise on that advantage that he had, he had a blade from the Archangel's sleeve stabbed right into his chest, instantly making his health drop by 50% and paralysed him. Two other men came from behind and tried to stab the Archangel from behind but he whirled around and used the other man as a shield, causing his allies to stab him by mistake and kill him before the Archangel wrenched the man's sword away him and cut both of the other men right in the abdomen, killing them both. The other two men that jumped into the formation continued to stab and kill Army members while taking little damage themselves. The other seven have cleaned up the 20 of them that charged and jumped into the fight against the remaining Army members. The Archangel picked up his sword, Blazing Flame and looked across the Army members and found their leader, Thinker.

He smiled, but it was more of a leer that said goodbye to the leader of the Army. He then leapt into the air, stepping on two of the Army members' heads before shooting a launching out a blade from under his sleeve, effectively making the leader unable to defend against his attacks. He then continued his jump towards the leader, pulling out both of his swords and lunged towards him. Just as he was about stab the leader of the Army with both of his swords, a black cloaked figure jumped before him, managing to block him and deflecting him off course before he could kill the Leader.

"Stop it, Otonashi; this is not the Otonashi I know," Kirito said in gasps as he struggled for air after blocking the Archangel's attack with all his strength.

"So, do I have to fight you too, as well as your wife? You two are no match for me, believe it. However, since I consider myself an acquaintance to you, I will spare you and your wife for this once. The next time you interfere with my affairs, you will become another one of my victims. However, I ask you, what is the meaning of trying to stop the fight now, all the Army members are dead," the Archangel said coldly to Kirito.

Kirito gasped in shock as he saw the last of the 70 Army members fall and disappear into polygons, apart from Thinker. All the 10 hooded men were unharmed at all, still standing straight as though it had been nothing but an easy job.

"Well, I guess I cannot be close to you anymore after this. Kirito, I guess this is goodbye; for now."

"Let's leave this place, the final battle approaches and we must heal our wounds before it does," the Archangel added to his men as they all turned around and walked slowly away, amidst looks of horror, fear and anger.

Kirito watched as they walked away slowly, their mysterious leader at the front of them all. He looked at them in anger and a feeling of mystery. The statement the Archangel made was at the back of his mind. That was when he noticed for the first time, the symbol of the Brotherhood at the back of their capes.

**How was it? I hope the added length was good enough for you. Took a whole afternoon to think of the plot and write the story itself. I am probably going to end the story at Chapter 12 or 13. But this story will not be over. I plan to add an ALO Arc as well as an Accel World, maybe even a GGO Arc (Gun Gale Online). **


	12. SAO Chapter 11: The beginning of the end

**Rapid uploading here, I am trying to finish this Arc quickly enough for me to have enough time to do my revision. Mid-year tests are coming up and the subjects are quite hard so I need to finish this series quite quickly. However, I promise that even during my exam period, I will upload at least 2 times per week. Enjoy chapter 11, :)**

"Kirito, what are we going to do now?" Asuna said while glancing at the street, where the last few polygons from the bloody massacre that happened a few minutes ago were still vanishing. At the horizon, the last few shadows of the hooded men vanished.

"I am going to apologise to Klein, he was right, the Archangel is not someone you can trust or confide in. His true side is a cold murderer who does not care about other people; he only cares about himself and the handful of others like him," Kirito said sadly with a faint trace of disappointment in his voice.

"Alright then, let's go find Klein," Asuna said as they both got to their feet and walked away back into Agil's bar.

"Kirito, Asuna! Did you get hurt? I heard that the Army members were wiped out by those men in hoods."

"No, we are alright, the lead man, known as the Archangel decided not to fight us even though we had stopped him from killing Thinker," Asuna answered an extremely worried Klein.

"He and his companions killed over 70 people though, without even pausing to hesitate." Kirito said with his teeth gritted. "Oh, and Agil, since you are in touch with quite a few information brokers, can you tell me about this guild or group known as the Brotherhood, I have heard its name before and the Archangel and his companions have the guild's symbol on their capes."

"Alright Kirito, I will find that for you," Agil answered.

"Also, Agil, where is Klein? He removed me from his friend list; I want you to tell me where he is now. I need to apologise to him." Kirito said.

"Klein is currently at Grandzam level 55; do you want me to invite him over to my place?" Agil asked Kirito.

"Yes, please do that."

After waiting for a while, Klein showed up at Agil's bar.

"I'm sorry Klein, I should have believed you from the start about the Archangel, you were right, he is a person you cannot trust; I am sorry Klein," Kirito said.

"Wow, what happened Kirito, what made you have this change of mind? To be honest though old friend, I missed you so much during the time we were separate," Klein seemed friendly enough to Kirito.

"Klein, have you not heard already, this sort of news spreads like wildfire throughout the games at very fast speeds." Asuna added.

"Well, what have I not heard, can you two fill me in?" Klein asked puzzled.

"Today, the Archangel showed up with 10 of his companions at this bar, they were all wearing the same hoods and clothes, as well as having the same design on their capes. Some Army members came into this bar and arrested them for wiping out an entire village on level 67. However, they refused to yield to the Army members and fought them. They fought outside, where another 40 members of the Army joined the fight against the 11 of them. It became a massacre of the Army members, the 11 of them were simply too strong for them. At one point, the Archangel could have killed Thinker, but Kirito stopped him in time before he could plunge both of his swords into Thinker. However, apart from Thinker, the rest were all killed." Asuna filled Klein in.

"Oh my goodness, how did they manage to win that fight? It was 60 against 11. They must be some seriously good players to beat these many of the Army." Klein gasped, unable to believe the bloodbath that happened earlier that day on the very street.

"It was all done by the Archangel; he took down 15 men all by himself and used some unimaginable tricks himself. They all used unimaginable tricks, such as having paralysing darts with them and poisonous blades hidden up their sleeves. They all seem to be in the same guild, known as the brotherhood." Kirito said.

"Oh yeah Kirito, regarding the Brotherhood, I have found out some stuff about them," Agil interrupted the three of them as a message popped up on his screen from one of Agil's information breakers. The three of them immediately turned around, immediately listening carefully, careful not to miss a word that Agil said.

"Here comes, apparently, the Brotherhood was founded by the Archangel at the beginning of SAO, and its members seemed to know each other in real life. They all started with their hoods and capes, making those clothes unique designs in SAO, you cannot find them anywhere. However, they are listed as an inactive guild. They were inactive for the past year or so, with no recorded activity until a month ago, when it was rumoured that hooded assassins have wiped out an entire village. Before that, there were just individual sightings of hooded men with capes around the world, and those sightings were rare and dispersed."

"Their player numbers are unknown, but it is estimated to be around 25, according to the amount of unique cloaks and hoods that were spotted so far. It is rumoured that their strength far exceeds the Knights of the Blood Oath, because they only take in the coldest, ruthless and merciless of all players other than the Original 11, the deadliest of players in SAO, they would not even spare a thought before sticking a knife in you."

"Speaking of which, the part about that guild being stronger than the Knights might be true, after seeing that display of pure power and might this morning might have proved it." Kirito's eyes darkened after realizing that so many dark secrets lay in this world.

"Also, there is this unknown source that stated that Kayaba Akihiko himself had a hand in the creation of this guild. However, it is most likely that Kayaba Akihiko himself is not the leader of the guild because of his personality, as stated by people who knew him in real life. Back to the guild, this guild's symbol is a triangle with a golden orb inside it, as well as a weird symbol inside the orb itself. As we all know, each member has a unique hood and cloak, though they all have hidden blades inside their sleeves, strapped to their wrists, furthermore, all of them are either skilled dagger, poison dart and single handed sword users or dual blade users. None of them use shields or two handed swords in combat; they rely on their superior speed and agility to dodge all of their enemies' attacks. That is all I managed to gather on them." Agil said.

"Thanks Agil, now we know a lot more about this mysterious guild, as well as the Archangel's true identity." Kirito said.

"I still cannot believe that that happened this morning. The Original 11, according to their hood and cloak designs just wiped out 70 of the Army, who were no pushovers whatsoever." Agil said.

"Have the data from your information breaker not told you enough? The Original 11 will stop at nothing for self-benefit. Furthermore, they are the coldest, coolest and most skilful assassins there are out there, especially the Archangel, the move he used on the three men; using one man as a surprise shield to let his allies' stab him while he dealt with the allies was just a display of intellect and skill. They are the true dark guild of this game, they make Laughing Coffin look like a children's joke." Kirito's voice was unusually dark. Beneath his voice, Kirito said, "I once believed you, Otonashi, why did you have to do this. But what is done is done, I will take you down for the crimes you have committed, if that is the last thing I do."

"Kirito, I just received a message from Commander Heathcliff, we are finally clearing this floor's final boss. He wants us to report to Grandzam immediately. He also wants Agil and Klein to come along." Asuna said while Kirito was still lost in thought.

"What does he want us to do now?" Kirito asked, almost with an irritated voice.

"Kirito, its nothing to be unhappy about, we are finally clearing Level 75! Now we are 1 step closer to the top level." Asuna said cheerily.

"Alright, it seems that I cannot reject this offer anyway, so I might as well go." Kirito said

"We will go too," Agil and Klein both said simultaneously, while Silica also agreed to go.

"Alright then, let's go to Grandzam and report to Heathcliff then." Kirito said, before jumping off his seat in the bar and heading off to the teleporter with Klein, Asuna, Agil and Silica.

Level 55, Grandzam

"Oh Kirito, I was wondering when would you arrive. Alright, the briefing on the mission now begins." Heathcliff said. "We have a total of 20 guilds and a total of 250 fighters joining us in this battle for clearing this floor boss. This floor boss will be much more powerful than the floor bosses before. Therefore, we will need a recon force. Leading the recon force will be the Dragon Alliance, the Liberation Army and the Brotherhood." Many people gasped and looked around the room, finding 20 people in hoods standing in a shadowy corner, with the Archangel standing in front of all of them. Kirito's face muscles tensed up as he remembered what happened before that day.

The guilds obeyed their orders and the Brotherhood, the Liberation Army and the Dragon Alliance headed for the dungeon boss area to scout it. They soon found a main room.

"So, what is the plan leader?" one of the men in hoods asked.

"The plan is very simple, we just need to enter the room with the other guilds and before the boss arrives, we kill the other guilds and slip away, pretending we are gone. After this incident, Kayaba Akihiko will definitely investigate this incident and lead the main forces here by himself. We will slip in under the confusion of the battle and then kill Kayaba Akihiko when he is fighting that boy." The Archangel clearly did not care about a few sacrifices along the way to defeating Kayaba Akihiko.

"Alright then, that will be the plan," said one of the other hooded men.

The Brotherhood allowed the other guilds to enter the room, before pouncing on them just as they were entering the door; the result was a massacre of the people from other guilds. Any of the assassins could take on two or three of the other guild members at the same time, using their devious tricks and secret weapons, notably the two hidden blades under their wrists, stabbing two opponents at once before finishing them off with swift blows with the sword. Before long, all of the other guilds have disappeared into nothing but polygons. The Archangel then smiled coldly, before ordering a retreat from the area, Kayaba Akihiko was his for the taking now.

"The whole of the recon force was wiped out by the boss sir, we checked the room repeatedly, there are no signs of them or the monster," one of the Knights reported to Heathcliff.

"What?! How is that possible?" Heathcliff seemed to be thrown off his balance the first time since he entered Sword Art Online. However, he knew that they were not murdered by the boss, there would at least be some proof, some rocks fallen at the bottom of the room, some scratch marks and other signs of the monster being there. They were murdered by the Brotherhood. He then thought of their leader, the Archangel, and how much of a threat he posted to him and his order. He waved it off, since he was an immortal object, no matter how strong the Brotherhood was, they will not be able to kill him. Yet, unease flickered in his mind, because of this ancient saying, passed down through generations after generations of the arch-nemesis of his order; nothing is true, and everything is permitted.

**There we go, more Assassin's creed stuff added to make it more interesting. Just a curious question, would you mind if I posted this as a crossover from Assassin's creed to Sword Art Online. Please post your opinions in the reviews. Even if I do not post this into the crossover section, I will probably create a backstory for the plot of this series in the crossover section to make the plot clearer to all of you. There we go, hope you enjoyed, until next time, Ja Ne. **


	13. SAO Chapter 12: The Truth of SAO

**Guys, I am finally coming to an end for this Arc of my story, the Sword Art Online Arc. Two or three more chapters should do it and I plan to write a lot during this Good Friday weekend, so expect at least 2 chapters for me. I can even finish it. Anyway, do you people want me to create a backstory for this story to explain the plot more? I will be including quite a few Assassins' creed stuff in here so I will probably post this as a crossover. Therefore, please go read this story there. Post your opinions but for now, just enjoy this chapter. :)**

Nothing is true, and everything is permitted. Those words reverberated in Heathcliff's mind as he made his way into the main meeting room for a meeting for the other guild leaders to discuss finally clearing Level 75, the toughest level yet, by a long way. Yet, none of these bother Heathcliff, the only thing that worried him was the re-emergence of the Brotherhood. They had to be stopped before they could clear this game and reclaim the prize at the end of all these. Time seemed to flow by as he was lost in thought and the Leader of the Order soon found himself in the meeting room. Some things are better if they are hidden.

"As we all know, the recon force was wiped out by the monster. A secondary force followed. However, as the door to the room opened, we could not find the monster, the recon force was also gone. We could only come up with one conclusion; the recon force was totally wiped out." Heathcliff broke the news.

"What?! Then are you people going to return us our members' lives?" Yoshi, the leader of the Holy Dragon Alliance asked. Some other guilds followed suit and angrily shouted at Heathcliff.

"In order to clear this game, sacrifices have to be made, and those men have died gloriously in battle for the greater good. We, the Knights of the Blood Oath, will gladly lay down our lives in order to clear the game. Have we not endangered ourselves for you before? Have we not made sacrifices too? Your guild is not the only guild participating in the recon force." Heathcliff replied calmly, effectively silencing the protestors.

"Therefore, I will require your co-operation for this floor, as well as the 25 floors above it. I know it is going to be a tough run but we need to clear the game as soon as possible." Heathcliff said to the guild leaders. After all the other guild leaders have fallen silent, Heathcliff continued, "The monster in this dungeon is clearly very powerful, and we will be unable to get any reinforcements through after we send in the first wave, therefore, we must send in as much people as possible in the first wave, preferably the best fighters. The battle will commence in an hour."

"Alright, I will send in 20 men," said Yoshi.

The other guild leaders soon agreed and left the room, leaving only Kirito and Asuna in the room.

"Asuna, can you not participate in this mission? It's going to be very dangerous, I want you to live and progress onto the real world, even if I die." Kirito said softy to Asuna.

After hearing that, Asuna ran into Kirito's chest and hugged him tightly. "Kirito-kun, it's going to be alright, I can participate in this. But if you die, I have no reason to live anymore..." Asuna cried while Kirito softly stroked her hair.

"Alright then Asuna, let's do this together, and I promise you, we will make it back to the real world, I will marry you there for real," Kirito said while holding Asuna close to him.

"Kirito-kun…" Asuna looked up while tears were still in her eyes and hugged Kirito even tighter.

"For now, let's focus on the battle, Heathcliff will be sending quite a large number of troops into the boss room, therefore, we will not need to fight that much. However, we will need to deal as much damage as possible when we get to attack," Kirito said.

"Alright, got it, should I switch a weapon? A sword will deal much more damage than a rapier. Although the rapier is faster, like you said, we won't have much time to attack so we need to make our shots count." Asuna said.

"Hmmm… I think it is still best to stick to your preferred weapons." Kirito replied. If only we had the Archangel with us now, along with the Brotherhood, we won't have to worry so much.

As the two of them discussed what to do to kill the monster, Heathcliff walked in, "Alright, Kirito, Asuna, we will be setting out now." After hearing that, the two of them walked out together with Heathcliff. At the square where they were supposed to gather to fight the monster, they saw Klein, Agil and many others willing to lay down their lives to clear this game.

"Alright men, let's go!" Heathcliff said as they all marched towards the door that led to wards the boss room. As soon as they opened the door, they charged inside. Kirito's night vision managed to give him a full view of the room. It was a circular arena, with many stone pillars and hiding spots among them. However, the monster was nowhere to be seen. All the warriors who charged in looked suspiciously around, looking for any sign of the monster or an imminent attack. Asuna and Kirito backed towards each other, swords at the ready as they waited for the monster to appear.

Just then, a few pieces of rock dropped onto the ground, breaking the deafening silence that was enveloping the room. Asuna immediately looked up and the room suddenly became illuminated with fires appearing on the stone pillars. At this point, a horrendous sound was heard and everyone looked to the ceiling. It was a monstrous creature, made out of only bones. It had a serpent-like structure, with many ribs, yet it had those skeletal legs, just like a millipede, it also had an armoured tail, like a scorpion. It certainly was a mutant creature of many horrors. However, the scariest part of that monster was its head. Its skull is horribly deformed, with a huge bulge at the top that made it frightening and ugly. It also had two sharp scythes that it had as its first pair of legs. Its eyes glowed an eerie red. Its name was "The Skull Reaper".

However, nothing could be scarier than the fact that it was now descending on the troops from the various guilds at a rapid speed. It dropped down from the ceiling, shocking some guild members so much that they were rooted to the spot. When they started to run, one of the scythes swept in from one side and cut the men into half, just above the waist. The men were thrown into the air and before Asuna and Kirito could catch them, they disappeared into polygons.

"With one hit… that's impossible…" Asuna said as the Skull Reaper reared up again, showing a fearsome amount of bones and weapons it could use. The Skull Reaper lashed out again, this time targeting one of the elite Knights of the Blood Oath, who just looked in shock at the monster, the attack unable to register on his mind quickly enough. However, Heathcliff immediately jumped in front of him, blocking the Skull Reaper with his shield and striking out with his sword. The Skull Reaper, annoyed that its kill got denied, swung to the side and used its range advantage and delivered a blow to two of the Knights, causing them to vanish instantly. Meanwhile, the other scythe swept across the room and targeted three of the members from the Liberation Army. Kirito leapt in front of them, taking the strength of the scythe himself by blocking it with his swords. However, the Skull Reaper just had too much strength for Kirito to handle. Sparks flew through the air as the Skull Reaper forced the scythe closer and closer to Kirito's neck. Kirito was almost unable to continue blocking as the scythe drew closer and closer to his neck. Just then, a flurry of green strikes landed on the Skull Reaper as it hurriedly withdrew its scythe to deal with its new enemy. Asuna then leapt back to behind Kirito as he finally managed to relax from blocking the Skull Reaper's attack.

"Everyone, we will deal with the scythes, you people just attack its sides and grind its health down." Heathcliff shouted at the members that formed this attack squadron. Everyone yelled their agreement as they charged in with their weapons while Heathcliff, Asuna and Kirito leapt forward and whirled their swords to strike down the boss. Blue, green and red sparks appeared on the Skull Reaper's head as they slashed at the boss. Meanwhile, the first of the other attackers have begun to attack the Skull Reaper's sides, causing the Skull Reaper to rear up in pain. However, they did not foresee the Skull Reaper using its tail to attack them. The tail of the Skull Reaper swept over and hit Agil in the arm, he was the lucky one. The ones that stood beside him were hit right in the stomach and vanished into polygons. The Skull Reaper then used its bony legs to stamp on the attackers, immediately killing two of them. However, these deaths could not make the spirit of the attackers fall, as they regrouped and launched another fresh wave of attacks at the Skull Reaper.

"Eclipse!" Kirito yelled as both of his sword powered up and he swung them towards the skull of the boss, slashing mercilessly at the creature. The monster then directed his attacks towards Kirito using both of his scythes, but Heathcliff jumped in front of Kirito just in time to block the scythes using the Holy Shield. Heathcliff then jumped out of the way to make way for Kirito's attacks, which were becoming faster and more concentrated as time wore on. The boss's heath also began to take a plunge as the attacks from the side and Kirito began to show their effects. Kirito continued his 64-hit combo as he twirled around gracefully in mid-air, dodging whatever the boss threw at him and just overwhelmed the boss's senses as he moved around with incredible speed and made swift hits before moving away. The boss, frustrated as it could not catch up to Kirito's speed, swung both of its scythes at Asuna. Kirito looked in shock as he saw the scythes move towards Asuna; yet, he was unable to stop using his combo until it finished. Just as the scythes were about to hit, Heathcliff jumped right in front of Asuna, blocking the attack and taking the full hit by himself. Heathcliff was thrown into the air and landed onto the floor a few feet away. However, instead of vanishing into the polygons that were the fate of the other warriors who got struck down, Heathcliff stood up, his heath only down a little, which was still in the green zone, and he smoothed it over with his health-regenerating skill. Meanwhile, the Skull Reaper's health has reached critically low numbers.

"Everyone, charge and kill that monster once and for all!" Heathcliff shouted as all of the members charged forward and hit the Skull Reaper with no mercy for it. Kirito also brought his swords together as he charged forward for his last blow from his ability: Eclipse. He spun around; causing a massive spike in energy and his whole body glowed a light blue as he flew forward and buried his swords into the skull of the Skull Reaper. The Skull Reaper reared up and disappeared into polygons.

After the battle, everyone was cheering, however, Kirito was focused on something else. Heathcliff's heath was still in the green zone, almost full health. How was it possible? He was hit by an instant-kill scythe and a couple of secondary impacts and hits as well. How is it even possible that his health was still in the green zone? Something is not right here. Kirito then recalled his duel with Heathcliff, remembering when he was about to slash at Heathcliff's head when Heathcliff suddenly turned to the side at an incredible speed and brought his health down to the yellow zone with a single poke of the sword. He was way too fast that moment. Kirito's eyes widened as he realised the truth. Kayaba Akihiko was Heathcliff, Heathcliff was Kayaba Akihiko, and everything made sense now. He stood up silently and made sure that Heathcliff was looking away as he powered up his swords and lunged at Heathcliff at an incredible speed, causing Heathcliff to turn around in shock as Kirito launched himself towards him. Just as the sword was about to connect, it hit a barrier surrounding Heathcliff and two words popped up above him, Immortal Object.

All the people in the area turned around and many of them were shocked at the fact that Kirito attacked Heathcliff. However, those gasps were soon directed at Heathcliff as they all saw the words, Immortal Object above Heathcliff.

"So, commander, would you mind to explain why you are an Immortal Object? Or should I call you, Kayaba Akihiko." Kirito said as Heathcliff stood there, silent.

"Would you be as kind as to tell me, how did you figure out who I was?" Kayaba Akihiko asked Kirito.

"The first time when I duelled you, I realised something was not right. You were too fast the moment before I was about to hit your head and make you lose the duel. You simply stepped to the side and poked me with your sword. It is impossible to go at that speed." Kirito answered calmly.

"Yes, I thought so too. That was an unfortunate mistake. From the start when I saw you, I knew that you would be the one that faces me on the final floor. You see, I am supposed to be the final boss. However, by the time we duelled, your power far exceeded my expectations; you were overpowering me so much that I had to activate the system's over-assist mode to save myself from that defeat. Also, after that, I added all the possible moves and counters in SAO into my own database and I created all the counter-moves for all moves in SAO, for security reasons." Kayaba Akihiko said to Kirito.

"The best player in the game betraying us to become the final boss, that's pretty bad, isn't it, Kayaba Akihiko?" Kirito asked. "I always asked myself, why he hid himself in the shadows, altering this world for us. However, I had forgotten a simple piece of psychology, a psychology that every child shows; there is nothing as boring as watching another person play an RPG."

"Our hope…Our leader… How could you do this to us?" One of the Liberation Army members leapt forward and swung his sword towards Kayaba Akihiko. However, before he could even reach into striking distance, he was poisoned with a single button which Kayaba Akihiko pressed. After that, Kayaba Akihiko paralysed all the people in the room, even Asuna, apart from Kirito and a handful of Knights form the Order.

"The original plan was to face you at the top of this floating castle, Aincrad. However, as a reward for figuring out who I am, I decided that you could face me here, right here, right now. Kirito, it is your choice."

"Kirito-kun… He is too strong, let's retreat." Asuna said to Kirito.

Kirito clenched his fists and grinded his teeth as he thought of Sacchi, the people who had died in this game. Only more would die if he refused to defeat Kayaba Akihiko right here, right now. He then stood up silently, and faced Kayaba Akihiko. "I will fight you now." Before turning around to Asuna and Klein, "It's alright Asuna, I am going to win this fight, and then we can go back to the real world. I'm sorry, to both of you."

"Kirito, I will never forgive you until we share a drink on the other side!" Klein wailed as Kirito stepped forward and faced the creator of SAO, Kayaba Akihiko.

Kayaba Akihiko then deactivated his Immortal Status and Kirito leapt towards him as soon as it was deactivated. Heathcliff then blocked with his shield. Kirito knew that the game was designed by Kayaba Akihiko, so he needed his own sword skills to defeat him. Pre-programmed combinations will not work since he knew all the counters to the skills. Kirito then used his sword skills trained in real life to fight Heathcliff, sometimes scoring a few hits while getting a few hits himself. They steadily duelled and increased their pace of duelling only slightly. However, to Kirito, that was not enough, with the words faster… faster… spinning in his mind. He activated the Power of Darkness, the ultimate combo for his sword combination. He slashed and slashed, but Kayaba Akihiko just smiled and blocked every single strike with his shield while Kirito tried futilely to break down his defence. Kirito lashed out a flurry of attacks; however, at the last of them, the Dark Abyss smashed against Heathcliff's shield and broke into pieces and vanishing into polygons. Kayaba Akihiko then lashed out, knocking Kirito backwards and walking right above him, raising his sword for the final blow.

So, this is the end for me eh? I'm sorry Asuna, Klein, everyone, I was not strong enough. Kirito closed his eyes and waited for his imminent demise. Kayaba Akihiko brought his sword down on Kirito. They were about to make contact when three silver blades sliced through the air and landed before where Kirito lay, almost slicing Kayaba Akihiko's arm into pieces as a white hooded and caped figure leapt from one of the stone pillars down.

"We meet again, Kayaba Akihiko."

**YAY finally finished this chapter. That took quite a long time. I will be ending the SAO Arc very soon, probably in the next chapter so look forward to it. If you enjoyed and have suggestions, please post them in the reviews and thank you all for reading my story. Sayonara! **


	14. SAO Chapter 13: The Apple Of Eden

**Guys, this will be the official last chapter of this story Arc, the SAO Arc. There will be an epilogue after this chapter, so guys look forward to it. :).**

**And after reading the epilogue, you can expect the second Arc of the story, the ALO Arc to come out shortly, so stay tuned. For now, as usual, please enjoy the chapter.**

Kayaba Akihiko looked up and saw a figure with a pure white cape and hood jump down onto the base floor of the boss room.

"Hello, Kayaba Akihiko, we meet again," it was the Archangel.

"Well, you are the last person I expected to meet here; I thought you got killed by the monster in this room." Kayaba Akihiko smiled at the hooded assassin.

"I am surprised that you did not work out that the Brotherhood killed the rest of the recon force yet," the Archangel replied with a smile as well.

"Well, of course I worked it out, if you people did not kill them, then who did?" Kayaba Akihiko was now subtly pulling out his sword.

"It is good that you know your facts, Kayaba Akihiko. Now, shall we settle our scores? One that has lasted for centuries, way back into the histories of our family, now, we shall settle it," The Archangel said.

With that, he slid out the hidden blades beneath his wrists and walked calmly towards the creator of SAO.

"Unfortunately for you, I decided not to play with you so soon, you can have some fun with my subordinates." Kayaba Akihiko ordered the remaining knights who were not paralysed to stand in front of him. Meanwhile, at the edge of the room, one of the knights was armed with a blowpipe, with a poisoned dart inside it. The poison was designed to take down powerful players such as the Archangel. He was about to take aim and blow when a shadow loomed over him. He looked up and found himself staring into a black hood that was the last thing he ever saw. Meanwhile, the other knights came closer to the Archangel and drew their swords. However, before they could even strike, the Archangel just pulled out two silver daggers and threw it at them, instantly decreasing their health to 0%, causing them to vanish into polygons. The Archangel just continued to walk ahead, before being surrounded by the Knights.

"Even you cannot match the power of men dedicated to a single objective," sneered Kayaba Akihiko. On his command, the knights charged towards the Archangel. Just then, a magnificent bird appeared in the sky, dropping a single feather onto the Archangel's hand, which looked up and smiled coldly at the Knights. The Knights drew their swords and charged; however, moments later, daggers flew through the air and stabbed them all. For the first time, Kayaba Akihiko looked angry and slightly worried as he ordered the two remaining knights to charge. Those knights had some of the highest speed ratings in the game. They charged like lightning and raced towards the Archangel, who simply pulled out his swords. The first knight rounded the Archangel and tried to slash him from behind but the Archangel just did a backspin and cut the Knight right at the waist. The other knight meanwhile, charged the Archangel straight on and hit the Archangel once and seemingly escaped unscathed, before various wounds appeared on his body and they both burst into polygons. The Archangel just spun back around to face Kayaba Akihiko, with the same arrogant smile on his face.

"Did you seriously think that you could defeat me this easily?" the Archangel asked.

"No, therefore, I have prepared backup. I present to you, the Templar Knights." Kayaba Akihiko said as twenty of the knights appeared and pointed their swords at him. Ten of them used 2 handed swords while the other 10 used a sword and a shield.

"Very well, if you want to fight like that, I will grant you your wish." The Archangel said while 10 hooded men appeared behind him, holding their swords and with their hidden blades out.

Both sides did not wait for any signal, they just charged and leapt towards each other, slashing, dodging and twirling in a battle to kill. The Templar Knights seemed to move with a collective mind, with their organized attacks and hits. The Brotherhood however, demonstrated majestic individual skill as one of them could duel two of the Templar Knights at once.

The Archangel felt the blade of a Knight graze his cheeks. He turned around, looking for the culprit before whirling his swords around and sliced the Knight into pieces. He then turned around and leapt above a knight trying to attack him and threw a dagger down at him before landing and slicing him with his sword. The knights instantly disappeared into polygons. Two more knights tried to charge him and both of them slashed their swords in unison at the Archangel. The Archangel swiftly turned to one side before pulling out a hidden blade and stabbing one of the knights, paralysing him and dealing damage. The other knight did not care about his fallen teammate, continued to charge towards the Archangel.

The knights have no emotion, no feelings, and they attack as if there is a puppet master controlling them. Don't tell me Kayaba Akihiko has already used the Apple of Eden. He must have, if not these people will be no match for us. The Archangel thought as he continued to jump away from the knights. Meanwhile the other assassins were definitely holding their own, if not overpowering the knights. They were slashing, kicking, punching and fighting with whatever means they could.

The Archangel spun around, holding his swords and bringing them down on one of the knights before twisting his wrists so that he let go of the swords and slid out the blades, slicing two of the knights who were trying to attack him from the sides. For the first time, there was a gap between the knights and the Archangel pounced on this chance. He leapt onto one of the knight's head and jumped right in front of Kayaba Akihiko.

Kayaba Akihiko was no weakling when it came to reaction timing as he also twirled around and slashed at the Archangel, sword met sword in mid-air and the sparks came out. The Archangel was the lighter one, therefore granting him more mobility and speed. However, Kayaba Akihiko was a solid rock with an extremely strong defence that deflected almost every attack threw at him by the Archangel, managed to hold his own against the Archangel.

"So, tell me, why do you want to kill me? Would it not be great if the world was a place with united people and untied thoughts? There will be no more wars in the world, imagine that!" Kayaba Akihiko said to the Archangel.

"Even so, the people would have lost their identity by the time what you said happens. And who will be in control of the world at that time? You and your Templars. Do you think that we are willing to surrender our freedom to you that easily? We will fight, like our ancestors before, Ezio, Connor, and Kenway. They were the ones that paved the path for this. Lastly, do you know how dangerous the Apple of Eden is? You will regret it after you use it." The Archangel replied to Kayaba Akihiko.

The last sentence he said caused Kayaba Akihiko to be distracted for a moment. The Archangel took the advantage and lunged at Kayaba Akihiko, and knocked his shield out of his hands. Kayaba Akihiko stood motionless, facing the Archangel. Meanwhile, the Templar Knights were still fighting the Archangel's fellow assassins. However, the assassins managed to outfight the Templar Knights and the last one of them soon fell, vanishing into polygons as the rest of the assassins advanced on Kayaba Akihiko.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Asuna just watched on as the most skilful two players in SAO duelled, talking about events that they did not understand. Who were the Templars? Who is Ezio? What is happening?

Kayaba Akihiko was not daunted when faced with these many Assassins. He merely smirked as he opened up his Game Master window. "Paralyse ID Brotherhood, Exclude ID Archangel." He said as the whole of the group of assassins dropped to the ground, paralysed by the Game Master.

"I am a Game Master, remember, that is what hands me the advantages in a fight." Kayaba Akihiko smiled before summoning 10 of the Grim Reapers into the Battlefield. The Grim Reapers were human sized, yet incredibly powerful, they are the bosses for Level 99.

"Alright, if that is what you are going to do," the Archangel said as he took out a teleportation crystal and force-teleported the rest of the Assassins away. "We are going to do this the traditional way."

After he made sure that all of the other assassins were safely teleported away, he charged into the midst of the Grim Reapers, pulling out his swords. The grim reapers were ready for him and slashed at him brutally, chipping health away from him while Kayaba Akihiko just laughed coldly and watched on. The Archangel hit back, using the Apocalypse ability and rained hell onto the Grim Reapers as the red strokes of the swords began to degenerate the Grim Reapers' health.

The Archangel then whirled around, slashing away at the Grim Reapers and using his hidden blades as extra weapons as he jumped nimbly from one place to another, weaving in and out of the Reapers, causing them to be confused. At one point, one of the Grim Reapers got so overwhelmed at the speed that it started to slash at its own kind, believing them as the Archangel. Clearly, the Grim Reapers were getting overwhelmed.

"Kirito, do you think that the Archangel is going to win this fight?" Asuna asked Kirito as they saw the White figure fizz in and out of the circle the Grim Reapers created.

"It depends; although he is such a formidable fighter, Kayaba Akihiko is a Game Master, meaning that he could do whatever he wants. This will really come down to small differences." Kirito replied while staring intently at the two of them.

"Kirito, I feel weird…" Asuna suddenly said to Kirito.

"What's wrong Asuna?" Kirito asked.

However, he could only look on in horror as the light in Asuna's eyes faded and she walked like a zombie towards the area where the Archangel and the Grim Reapers were battling. Even more to his dismay, he saw Klein also shuffle like a zombie towards the battle area.

"Asuna, what are you doing?!" Kirito shouted as Asuna walked closer and closer.

Meanwhile, the Archangel was totally oblivious to what was happening. As he sliced down the 5th Grim Reaper, he was suddenly attacked by a blinding strike of a rapier. No way… Is it Asuna? The Archangel spun around as he saw Asuna striking him with her rapier. He noticed that her eyes were faded, with no light of life inside them. He was contemplating whether to attack her when another attack came in, this time from the right. The Archangel spun around while holding off the grim reapers. He saw Klein, with the same blank expression on his face and the dull eyes.

"So, Kayaba Akihiko, you already activated the effects of the Apple of Eden?" the Archangel asked.

"Yes, I have." Kayaba Akihiko replied.

The Archangel then turned around, slashing at the Grim Reapers while attempting not to hurt the actual players. However, Asuna was relentless in her strikes delivering blow after blow at him, making it increasingly harder to dodge all the attacks. Finally, while the Archangel was dodging Klein's attacks, Asuna knocked a hidden blade out from below his wrist and caused him to fall down. All the Grim Reapers converged on him before Kayaba Akihiko told them to stop and carry him up to the highest stone pillar in the room.

After he was carried up there, his hands were bounded behind his back and a noose was tied around his neck.

"How will it feel, I wonder if you were thrown down there and get strangled?" Kayaba Akihiko asked in a mocking taunt at the Archangel.

The Archangel just stayed silent as Kayaba Akihiko removed his hood.

"Finally, so that's who you are, Archangel. Did you ever realise that a collective mind is always better than in individual? Even if you believe it now, it is too late." Kayaba Akihiko sneered with a cold voice.

Archangel POV: I'm sorry master Ezio, I have failed you.

"Do not waver from the creed; nothing is true and everything is permitted. Stand up, my child, and show what we, the assassins can do to this old and foolish Templar."

"But I have been bound and am on the verge of death."

"Then fight with even more courage, my child. Never waver from the creed…"

"So, any last words?" Kayaba Akihiko's words snapped the Archangel back to reality.

"Yes, you were wrong when you said that a collective mind is always stronger. When people are independent, they have more to fight for, that's why, and you are a foolish person. In fact, all Templars are foolish. Not to mention those who used the Apple of Eden." The Archangel replied with a confident smile on his face.

"Well, look at who's talking. I am not the one on the verge of death right now. And finally, at long last, you will die." The Archangel felt the noose getting tightened around his neck.

"But remember, I bow to no demon, no angel, and no god, not to mention a mere Templar." Kayaba Akihiko's face slightly contorted as he heard the words of Ezio Auditore Da Firenze, the one who had murdered his ancestors. Taking advantage of his slight distraction, the Archangel slipped out his remaining hidden blade and cut the ropes tied around his hands and kicked Kayaba Akihiko backwards before looping the noose around his head. He then jumped off the stone pillar, dragging Kayaba Akihiko with him and landed gracefully on the ground while Kayaba Akihiko was slammed on the ground.

The Archangel strode towards him while putting his hood back on.

"You know that I don't like it that people pull off my hood. And when people make me annoyed, they tend to die, Kayaba Akihiko." The Archangel looked coldly at the Templar, who was trembling on the ground. He took out both of his swords and rammed them into the Templar's stomach, causing his health to drain to 0 and vanish into polygons.

The game's system immediately registered Kayaba Akihiko's death. "As of 25 July, 2024, the game is officially cleared. The game is cleared."

The Archangel stood triumphantly over the carcass of his opponent and logged out of the system.

"Asuna, Klein! Are you two alright?" Kirito asked as he ran towards them two as Asuna pulled him into a hug.

"It is over, right Kirito?" she asked.

"Yes, it is finally over." Kirito replied to his wife.

"Well Kirito, the system is forcing me to log out in 10 seconds, so I guess this is goodbye." Klein said as he disappeared into polygons.

"Asuna, since this is all over, I will marry you on the other side the day I find you." Kirito said.

Hearing that, Asuna broke down and hugged Kirito even tighter as they embraced, feeling their love for each other. They kept like that for a while until a frown creased Asuna's face.

"What's wrong Asuna?" Kirito asked in a concerned manner.

"Well, about Otonashi-kun…" Asuna said.

"It's alright, I forgive him, I guess that people always have a reason as to why they do certain things. After I watched the final battle, I'm pretty sure it applies for Otonashi as well." Kirito gently said.

"As for why I want to marry you, it is simply because I love you." The couple shared a blissful kiss as they were forced to log out by the system as the world degenerated completely.

**Final chapter for this Arc is finally done! So happy! Now, you people can look forward to the epilogue that I will be uploading soon. Also, thank you guys for supporting me through the first Arc of this story. Stay tuned because ALfheim Online: Archangel will be coming out soon. :)**

**Ps. A few matters to clear up. I decided not to post this as a crossover and the other 3 Arcs of the story will be in the same book on . So continue to follow and support. For now, Ja Ne. **


	15. SAO Epilogue: The Archangel

**Officially the last chapter of the SAO Arc, you guys can already look forward to the ALO Arc. This simply just explains what the Archangel did after the game clearing. For those of you interested to find out, enjoy this chapter. :)**

The world is finally clear, the Templar is also dead. However, I have one more job to do. The Archangel woke up in his bed and put on his clothes and hood in real life. However, this time, he was armed with guns, grenades and modern weapons, instead of the swords and throwing daggers of the past. However, two defining traits did not leave him; he still had the symbol of the Brotherhood on his hood, as well as the two hidden blades beneath his wrists.

Archangel POV: The network tracker has worked, now I know where Kayaba Akihiko is in real life.

Tokyo, Japan

The Archangel leapt out of the window and climbed to the roof. From there, he leapt from one roof to another, climbed ladders, scaled walls until he reached a shelter in a deserted part of Tokyo. He went to the shelter and smashed the door open. He walked inside; the area was full of high-tech devices such as the next-gen computers, experimental next-gen Nerve Gears. However, there was only one thing he sought in the place. He walked to the end of the tunnel, and pushed open a door that led to a room there.

The room was small, with only a computer and a bed in it. On the bed lay Kayaba Akihiko, lying still forever and the computer was still turned on. The Archangel entered the room and looked for the item he sought after. He soon retrieved a small, golden orb from Kayaba Akihiko's coat and placed it inside one of his own pockets. The Apple of Eden was now in safe hands.

Just then, a message popped up in the computer. The Archangel went over and read it.

To: KayabaAkihiko

From: RCTPROGRESS

The object has been received, researching and breaking down key elements in the object. We are close to finding out what does the object contain that makes it so effective. Combined with the Nerve Gear, we will be able to erase and rewrite memories for those that use Nerve Gear and Amusphere. We have already captured 300 subjects to conduct our tests on. After this successful test, we will recreate the object, by that time; we will have the whole world at its knees.

Regards from,

RCT PROGRESS

The Archangel's face contorted as he looked at the email. The object was clearly another Apple of Eden and this company, RCT PROGRESS was already close to recreating this object. Kayaba Akihiko was a Templar; therefore, these people are probably Templars as well. The Archangel then scrolled through the Emails sent by Kayaba Akihiko. He found a disturbing truth, RCT PROGRESS was not the only one trying to re-create the Apple of Eden, and there was this company under the name of XAM Research Institute that was also trying to recreate the Apple of Eden. What complicated things even further was that that company was located in the USA.

After finding out what he could, the Archangel looked at his enemy, the Templar, Kayaba Akihiko for one last time.

"Requiescat en pace," was all the Archangel said as he threw a time-bomb into the shelter. This area will never yield its secrets to anyone else.

Ten minutes later, an explosion rocked the northwest of Tokyo. Following the explosion, a boy wearing black clothes woke up in the hospital.

**Ok, done for the first arc, this epilogue provides plot complications that will explain events in the next few Arcs. So yea, Sayonara for now and look forward to the ALfheim Arc.**


	16. ALO Chapter 1: Return

**First chapter of ALO Archangel here, Yay. Please enjoy this Arc of the story, hope you enjoyed the first Arc. :)**

"Where…am…I…" Kirito woke up on his hospital bed and glanced around. He was lying on a bed with an IV drip attached to his wrist. He tried to get up, and felt the weight of the Nerve Gear on his head. Then, everything started to flow into his mind. Being called a beater… Entering the Death Game… The Moonlit Black Cats… Heathcliff… Silica… Agil… Klein… Lisbeth… Asuna… the Archangel… Kirito's eyes began to well up in tears as he thought of Asuna, his love in SAO. It has been 2 years since he entered the death game and now that it has ended, he was back in reality, where his powers did not exist. He staggered up from his bed and pushed his IV drip out of the hospital ward. Soon, he was confronted by a nurse.

"You cannot go out yet, you will have to stay for 2 months for rehabilitation in the hospital. We have 200 other people here as well, same as you, they bought the game and played it for 2 years." The nurse chided Kirito as she pushed him right back into the room.

Kirito was too weak to resist, however, all he wanted to do was to return home and find Asuna. However, he would have to wait.

Two Months Later:

"Onii-chan, wake up already, it's already time for school," Kirito sighed as he looked to the door of his room. A girl with short-black hair stood there.

"Alright Sugu…" Kirito rubbed his eyes and sat up on his bed. He opened his closet and looked at the clothes he had. He took out his school uniform and put it on before shuffling to the door and boarding the bus at the nearest bus stop. School was boring as usual, however, he had one thing to do after school, and he had to visit Asuna. After he cleared the death game, he traded information of SAO to the SAO Investigation Force for Asuna's whereabouts. However, he was not able to answer the questions regarding a mysterious white hooded man.

Kirito's mind was still filled with questions about the Archangel and the mystery surrounding him when he reached the hospital ward where Asuna lay, with the Nerve Gear still on her.

"Asuna, I've come to visit you." Kirito said as he held her hand.

Asuna just lay there, not having any reaction or emotion. She was still trapped in the Death Game that Kirito has escaped nearly 3 months ago. Just then, the ward door opened again and Kirito stepped away from Asuna, while looking on as a man carrying a stalk of flowers walk to Asuna's bed side. It was Asuna's father.

"Good morning, Kirigaya-kun." Asuna's father greeted him politely.

"Good morning, Yuuki-kun. Sorry for disturbing both of you." Kirito said.

"No, it's alright; after all, your visits make her happy. Come anytime you want, Kirigaya-kun." Mr Yuuki replied.

Just then, a second man walked into the room, he looked bright and young with his shining glasses and smoothly combed hair. "President, I have some reports to provide for you."

"Oh, I believe that you two are not introduced. Kirigaya-kun, this is Sugou, my assistant in research and development of the Nerve Gear." Mr Yuuki said.

"Oh! So you are Kirito-kun, the hero! I have been waiting to see you!" Sugou walked forward and shook Kirito's hand enthusiastically. "I am Sugou Nobuyuki, nice to meet you."

"Oh, I am Kirigaya Kazuto." Kirito responded.

"Err… We are not supposed to discuss what happened in the SAO servers remember?" Mr Yuuki interrupted both of them.

"Alright, President."

"Anyway, regarding Sugou, he is the son of a family friend, and has always been family to us. We treat him so anyway." Mr Yuuki continued the introduction of Sugou to Kirito-kun.

Sugou just smiled politely to Kirito.

"And about that event, president, I would like to make it official." Sugou suddenly said to Mr Yuuki.

"Oh, are you sure? After all, you are still a young man; you can meet many other people." Mr Yuuki replied.

"I want to see Asuna wear that dress while she is still beautiful." Sugou said, smiling widely at Mr Yuuki.

"Alright then, anyway, excuse me, I got a meeting to attend to, I have to hurry. Bye to the both of you." Mr Yuuki said.

In the room stood a smiling Sugou and a shocked Kirito; Kirito's eyes were still wide in shock and horror as his brain processed what happened just now. Sugou just kneeled down beside Asuna and said to Kirito.

"Kirito, the thing we were discussing just now, was Asuna's marriage to me."

Kirito gasped, his hands shook as the news was broke to him. He could not bear the love of his life get taken away so easily and swiftly. He just stood there while Sugou took Asuna's hair and kissed a bunch of it, inhaling the scent of Asuna. Kirito's fists clenched and his face contorted in anger as he walked over to Sugou, who started playing with Asuna's lips.

"You see, Asuna does not like me in real life. Neither my parents nor hers know about it. If I really proposed to her, she will more than likely reject me. Therefore, this situation makes it quite fortunate for me. Kirito, did you remember the SAO world? Asuna is still trapped in there and since I am the researcher for the Full Dive Program, you can even say that I am the only one keeping Asuna alive. And of course, in return for keeping Asuna alive, I expect something back of course, Asuna's hand in marriage."

"Stop it," Kirito grasped Sugou's hand and pulled it away from Asuna's mouth. Sugou merely pulled his hand free.

"I know that you and Asuna liked together in SAO, and I do not know what promises she made to you, however, all of those are false. Only my marriage with Asuna will come true. It will be next week right in this hospital room. Of course, you will be invited too." Sugou was cut off as his phone rang. Sugou's brows furrowed while listening to the person calling him, before putting down the phone.

"Well Kirito, this is goodbye for now, I hope that you know Asuna is mine." Sugou said triumphantly as he exited the room in a hurried way.

Kirito just stared at the wall, unable to take in what he had just heard. His love, his only reason of existing has just been taken from him. He wanted the world to be consumed in fire right now, with Sugou right at the middle of the strongest, brightest, hottest flames. He wanted Sugou dead. After a minute, Kirito's blood cooled down and he just sat next to Asuna stroking her hair. "I promised to take you back to this world. But why did things have to turn out this way?" Kirito cried into her as he hugged her.

He was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of the television. The news was reporting a huge explosion in north-west Tokyo earlier that morning, leaving a crater the size of 10 meters in what seemed to be the remnants of a shelter. However even after two months, investigation of the area was impossible as the whole area seemed to have been vaporized. There were many theories as to why this happened. However, investigations have stopped.

Kirito was still staring at the television screen as someone entered the hospital ward. Kirito spun around to see if it was Sugou or Mr Yuuki. However, the person was someone that he did not expect to see again. It was the Archangel. He wore a pure white jacket and a pair of long white pants. His jacket concealed many weapons that he carried around. He also wore a long coat. The jacket also had the sign of the Brotherhood on it. However, what did not change was the fact that he was wearing a hood and had the two knifes beneath his wrist extended.

"Kirito, what are you doing here?" The Archangel asked as he removed his hood as the Black Swordsman turned around to look at him.

"I could ask the same for you, Otonashi." Kirito replied smoothly, without even flinching at the sight of the Archangel's wrist blades.

"Kirito, can I ask, was a person named Sugou Nobuyuki here just now?" The Archangel asked while retracting his blades smoothly.

"Yes, he was, why do you ask?" Kirito replied.

"Alright, we need to talk, how about we meet at the café nearby." The Archangel said.

"Ok, but the cost of the things we order there will be on you." Kirito said.

The two of them walked to the café near the hospital and settled down. Kirito ordered some ice lemon tea while the Archangel got some coffee.

"Alright, just to answer your question as to why I asked if Sugou was there was because of the fact that he was doing a foolish and dangerous experiment that could destroy humanity. You see, do you remember the final battle against Kayaba Akihiko; he somehow managed to control Asuna and Klein to fight against me. It was then when I knew that he had to be dealt with immediately, because he has secured the Apple of Eden. The Brotherhood is an organization that exists in real life, and we are battling against an Order known as the Templars. Kayaba Akihiko was a Templar, and the reason I entered Sword Art Online in the first place." The Archangel said to Kirito.

"What is the Apple of Eden?" Kirito asked the Archangel.

"It is a long story to explain what it is. But I can tell you roughly what it does. The Apple of Eden is one of the pieces of Eden; it gives the person using it control over other people. In other words, you can enslave entire populations. In the game, Kayaba Akihiko managed to control Asuna and Klein through manipulating them with the Apple. My guess is that SAO is only a test for the Templars to see if they can install the effects of the Apple through the Nerve Gear. In other words the 10000 of you were just test subjects for a greater creation. The Brotherhood is a bunch of assassin's like me who entered the game to track Kayaba Akihiko down. In the end, I managed to place a network tracker into Kayaba Akihiko's account. Thus, after I cleared the game, I went to his laboratory and retrieved the Apple of Eden. After that, I blew up the place to prevent any investigation." The Archangel said darkly.

"So the bomb, that was you?" Kirito asked, remembering the news he saw just now in the hospital.

"Yes, but that is not important. What is more important is that I found an email sent from RCTPROGRESS to Kayaba Akihiko. It was regarding the Apple of Eden. Apparently, Kayaba Akihiko is working with RCT to develop the technology of using the Apple of Eden to manipulate people's minds and how to create new Apples. Since Sugou is the one who is leading the operation, I tried to sneak up on him in the hospital ward and murder him. He is also a Templar." The Archangel continued explaining the situation.

"That makes you in the same situation as me Otonashi; I also want to murder Sugou. But for a different reason, he stole Asuna away from me." Kirito said.

"Do you realise, since Asuna is also wearing a Nerve Gear, she can also be manipulated if the research manages to find a way to control people. In the end, she will have no complaints about marrying Sugou." The Archangel realised a potential for a deal here.

"Then...Then…I'll…" Kirito stuttered as he faced the ugly truth. Sugou was one step ahead. However, the Archangel is a way to solve the problem.

"How about this; I help you to fight Sugou, you get to save Asuna, I get to destroy the research data and take the Apple back." The Archangel proposed to Kirito.

"Alright, sounds like a deal to me." Kirito said as soon as he heard the part about saving Asuna from the vile grip of Sugou.

"Then it's a deal." The Archangel concluded the business and continued to drink his coffee.

The two of them stayed at the café all the way till evening…

"Hey, Otonashi, I need to leave, my sister is going to be worried soon." Kirito said while bidding goodbye to Otonashi.

"Alright, stay safe, I might be dropping by your house soon." The Archangel said to Kirito. As Kirito turned towards the door, he pulled out his phone to check the SAO forums on the latest news regarding the game. To his surprise, it was now called the ALO forum, ALfheim Online. The latest post on the forum definitely caught his attention. It would catch Kirito's attention even more though.

"Kirito, you need to see this!" The Archangel shouted to Kirito.

Kirito turned back and walked towards the Archangel and took a look at the picture on his phone. His eyes widened, "No way…"

The picture was one of Asuna, sitting in what seemed like a cage, in a game exactly like SAO.

**OK guys, done with the first chapter of ALO: Archangel, yay. Did you enjoy it? Reviews are always welcome and look forward to me uploading more soon. Ja Ne...**


	17. ALO Chapter 2: ALfheim Online

**Hello, guys, here is the second chapter of ALO: Archangel. Exams are due soon, so uploading will be a bit erratic at best. No uploads at worse. I managed to squeeze out some time today to write this. Nevertheless, enjoy this chapter. :)**

"No way…" The both of them said as they saw Asuna's photo.

"Who was the poster of this photo?" Kirito asked while the Archangel checked.

"Agil was the poster of this photo. And apparently, the Sword Art Online forum had been turned into something called ALfheim online forum. What makes it even more intriguing is that ALfheim online is created by RCTPROGRESS, the very same company Sugou comes from. Therefore, from what we have learnt from Kayaba Akihiko, this may very well be another test on the Apple of Eden. Asuna is undoubtedly one of the subjects. If we do not rescue her soon enough, she will come under control of the Apple of Eden. She will forget about you and will do whatever Sugou wants her to do, which includes marrying him." The Archangel explained to Kirito.

"If it's Asuna, we need save her as soon as possible." Kirito said urgently.

"Well, we did strike a deal for that one just now, didn't we?" The Archangel said. "Don't worry Kirito, the only thing we need to do now is to visit Agil to find out what happened."

"Alright, let's visit Agil." Kirito said as they both walked out of the café. The journey to Agil's bar was swift and smooth, probably due to the fact that they both wanted to know the secret behind that photo.

"Hello, Agil." Kirito said as he entered the bar, with a bald, muscular man behind the counter wiping the glasses a usual.

"Oh, Kirito, I did not expect you at this time of day, and I see that you have brought a guest along." Agil's eyes slightly narrowed as he looked at the Archangel.

"Don't worry Agil, it's not like I am going to kill 70 people outside your bar again. That game really makes the impossible possible; I really miss that game. This time, we are here to discuss serious matters, not to have a laugh with you or anything. Were you the one that posted this photo?" The Archangel showed the picture of Asuna to Agil.

"Yes, I was." Agil said while taking a close look at the picture.

"May I ask how did you people take it, and in what area did you take it?" The Archangel question Agil further.

"Well, do you know this new game, ALfheim Online?" Agil asked while throwing a CD-ROM towards the Archangel and Kirito.

"Of course, considering that we saw that picture on the ALfheim Online forum. Is it an extension of SAO?" Kirito asked.

"Well, technically it is developed from SAO and uses the development data from SAO to build a new game. There is so much to explain in the new game, it has many new and different mechanics, the engines, graphics, feelings you get in the game are quite different. Some changes though, that make the game inferior to the original SAO. Overall though, the graphics have definitely improved quite a bit." Agil said while he threw the ALfheim Online digital copy to Kirito. Kirito glanced at the cover, which depicted two flying fairies.

"In this game, there are no more sword skills, so consider it as SAO without sword skills but with magic. The players use skills to improve them, so there are technically no more levels in the game. However, it is really popular because you can fly in the game. There is something called the flight engine in the game."

"How do you operate it?" Kirito asked while the Archangel just sat down and listened.

"Well, I don't know, I heard that it is ridiculously hard to operate. Anyway, as I was saying, the players are split into 9 races and they all have their respective lands. Furthermore, there is a World Tree in the middle of the world of ALO." Agil said.

"So what does Asuna have to do with this game?" Kirito asked, curious at the new data given to him by Agil.

"Well, everyone wanted to know what was on the World Tree. Therefore, 5 of them clung onto each other, and took off like a rocket. However, they did not even manage to reach the lowest branch of the tree before they fell. They took a few pictures and when they zoomed in to the pictures, they found this." Agil said, showing the photo of Asuna to Kirito.

"That does look like Asuna…" Kirito said.

"Agil, can you borrow me this?" Kirito asked after looking at it for a moment.

"Sure, but you will need to buy the hardware, the Amusphere to play this game." Agil said.

"Does it work on the Nerve Gear?" Kirito asked.

"Yes, the Amusphere is just a more secure version of the Nerve Gear." Agil said.

"Well, you two seem to have a nice chat, Kirito, I will also play this game, in order to achieve my own goals, see you there in half an hour. I have to get going now; I want to buy the Amusphere." The Archangel said as he turned and left the bar.

"This is all for Asuna, I need to save Asuna from Sugou. So, no matter what is the danger, I will play it. A death game is just too easy for me." Kirito said to Agil, grasping the copy of ALfheim Online and leaving the bar.

After returning home, Kirito took his Nerve Gear and put it on, "Link Start!" After selecting the various options which included the language and administrative settings the words, "Welcome to ALfheim Online" popped up in Kirito's vision in the Nerve Gear.

"Please input your name and gender before choosing your race." The system said to him.

Kirito remembered his old SAO username, Kirito and entered it into the keyboard that was shown to him, he also selected male before the system progressed on to let him choose his race. After flipping through the races, Kirito chose "Spriggan" because the people playing that race wore black, which was the original colour for the black swordsman. After confirming on the rest of the settings, Kirito entered the World of ALO. He found himself falling towards a Mayan temple like ruin and his face widened in surprise. However, before he could drop to the floor, a black hole of pixels appeared and swallowed him. "What is going on?!" Kirito shouted as he fell into the hole.

Before long, he was slammed headfirst into the ground. "Ouch… That hurt…" He quickly recovered and flipped through the player interface. He looked at his skills, only to find out that they were ridiculously high, with some already maxed out. Then, he remembered that those were his exact same skills he had in SAO. "Is this inside SAO?" He also found the logout button in the game. However, all his items were missing or non-existent in the game. "Please, be there." He flipped through his items list before pulling out a single tear, Yui's heart. After that, he pressed on it and the girl materialised right before his eyes.

"Papa!" Yui said excitedly as she saw Kirito once again.

"Yui…" Kirito said as he looked at Yui.

"Papa, is this in SAO?" Yui asked. "No, this is ALfheim Online." Kirito was interested to find out the answers to some questions he wanted to ask.

"I sense that this is a copy of SAO." Yui said while detecting measurements in the system.

"I see, so RCTPROGRESS stole information from Argus. But why are my stats the same as SAO?" Kirito asked, curious to find out why he had such powerful stats right from the start.

"Well, the Data save works the same as SAO, so your SAO data is merged with data from ALO to create your avatar, weapon and stats." Yui answered as she probed the system for answers.

"Well, then is the system treating you well? Do you still have your Admin Credentials Yui?" Kirito asked.

"Well, I don't have my Admin credentials anymore and I am classified as a player support AI, a Navigation Pixie." After Yui said that, she began to glow white and in a flash, she had become a minuscule pixie resting on the shoulders of Kirito. Kirito extended a finger to poke her, earning a squeal from Yui. "That tickles…" She said while squirming away from Kirito's finger.

"Papa, you should delete all your items before an error-detection program finds them." Yui said to Kirito.

Kirito glanced at his items; he really did not want to delete them, especially the faithful sword that has followed him through so much, the Elucidator. However, after contemplating for some time, he pressed a few buttons and cleared his inventory.

"Well, Kirito, you shouldn't find it that hard to delete the items in your inventory; after all, you cannot use them." Kirito and Yui spun around in surprise as they glanced up at a person in a hood and a cape, one that looked exactly like the Archangel's. However, the cape and hood were black instead of pure white.

"Otonashi, is that you?" Kirito asked while glancing up at the man.

"Well, probably by the clothes I am wearing, you can tell who I am." The Archangel answered Kirito.

"So, why are your clothes now black?" Kirito asked.

"It's because I cannot find a race that will give me a set of pure white clothes. Luckily for me, I saved my original clothes in my inventory, so I can wear them. In addition to my white coloured clothes, I also saved a white and red set." The Archangel accessed his inventory and changed into his white and red set of clothes.

Those clothes were magnificent, with a red robe hanging down from his right shoulder while a golden sword gleamed in its holder. In addition to that, the Archangel extended his hidden blades underneath his wrists and various throwing knives were visible under the red robe, displaying an awesome amount of firepower. He also had an armoured belt around him, as well as a shoulder guard at the side of the robe, making up an impressive set of clothes. The hood was slightly more curved than before. Despite all of the impressive clothing, Kirito was most interested by the sword the Archangel had.

"Can you let me see that sword?" Kirito asked.

"Alright, but don't damage it." The Archangel said to Kirito as he handed him the sword.

"The Aquila Realm eh?" Kirito said as he tried swing the sword around, it felt perfect, slightly heavier than the Elucidator but still light enough for a one-handed sword. The smoothness of it was amazing.

"Where did you get such a sword?" Kirito asked, clearly amazed by the sword's properties.

"Well, I started with the sword, so I guess you could say that the system created it for me." The Archangel replied with a slight smirk as Kirito looked sad at the fact that he was still stuck with his sword.

"I guess I would buy a sword soon, the one I am stuck with seems to be too low level." Kirito said to the Archangel and Yui at large.

"Papa, there are players nearby!" Yui said as a clang and a clatter pierced the air. Kirito and the Archangel, both curious, decided to go and find out. Kirito decided to fly, while the Archangel jumped from tree to tree. When they arrived at the scene, it was a full blown battle between the Sylph and the Salamanders.

The Salamanders were clearly winning, as they launched attack after attack at the green coloured Sylphs, who were clearly attempting to retreat but were blocked off by the Salamanders.

"Well Kirito, this really seems like a fight worth participating in, I say we go help the girls." The Archangel said as he started flying into the air.

"Honestly… Otonashi, I did not know that you were like that…" Kirito sighed as he went over to help the Sylphs.

Just then, one of the Sylphs was sent tumbling down to earth with a huge flame ball from one of the Salamanders. Three of the heavily armoured and armed Salamanders came plummeting towards her, about to strike her and cause her to disappear; Kirito saw that and tried to turn away from the Salamander he was duelling with mid-air, however, he was stopped by another Salamander blocking his way. Just as the hits from the Salamanders were about to connect, two of the three vanished into a red jet of light while the third was sent rolling on the ground. Two throwing knifes clattered onto the ground as a white and red figure leapt over and stabbed the third Salamander, effectively eliminating him from this fight. He then turned around in a whirl of red and white. "It seems to me that my skills have not rusted one bit."

**Finally finished with chapter 2 of ALO: Archangel, so tiring after exam; I guess you guys will need to put up with me uploading less over the next few days for a bit, then I can start up my engine and start uploading quickly again. Be patient, Ja Ne…**


	18. ALO Chapter 3: The Sylphs

**Hello viewers, I am back with the third chapter of this second arc of the story. Please be patient with me, as I said, it is indeed exam period and uploading will take up quite a bit of time. Anyway, please enjoy this story. **

"What gives you the right to interfere with our war, Spriggan? You are neither a Salamander nor a Sylph, why do you have to help them?" The leader of the Salamander task force inquired after seeing the Archangel strike down three of his kind in a blink of an eye.

"Well, what if I just wanted to help? Does it have anything to do with you?" The Archangel replied proudly, which earned gasps from the Sylphs and the Salamanders alike. The Sylph that he had just saved looked disbelievingly at him.

"Why did you anger him? He is one of the Salamander's 12 Kings, he ranks among the top 20 players in the game and you dare to speak to him like that? You will be killed."

"I have faced death too many times already, once more should not hurt, besides, how do you know I cannot defeat him?" The Archangel smiled at the Sylph as he leapt into the sky, to face the Salamander leader.

"How about this, we duel, one-on-one, if I win, you retreat, if you win, I will let you do whatever you want to do to the Sylphs. You can even kill us if you want." The Archangel proposed to the Salamander King.

"Alright, sounds like a deal to me, I will fight you, just don't cry when I destroy you." The Salamander King replied confidently, pulling out his sword, a two handed red sword.

"Isn't that the Flames of Justice? You need a double handed sword wielding skill of 950 to use it! The other man has no chance of winning this fight." The Sylphs said after they saw the Salamander's sword.

The Archangel smiled slightly and pulled out the Aquila Realm and placed it in front of his face, waiting for his opponent to make the first move. He also slid out his hidden blades, just for good measure and an extra attacking option.

Without warning, the Salamander King charged straight at the Archangel, turning into a whirl of red as he leapt at the Archangel, slamming his sword at his waist. In an equally swift action, the Archangel lifted his sword and parried the attack, causing the Salamander to get knocked off balance. The Archangel then took to the offensive, launching a series of slashes at the opponent. The Salamander King though, quickly recovered his balance and blocked a couple of the slashes. However, the Archangel still got a few attacks through, knocking the Salamander King closer and closer to the ground.

"Wow, just look at the speed of him." The Sylphs said as they saw the Archangel repeatedly beat the Salamander King back, while the Salamanders stepped forward, preparing to help their king if things got out of hand.

The Salamander King raised his sword and in one swift motion, brought it down on one of the Archangel's arms. However, the Archangel just grabbed his arm and twisted it around, before stabbing the Salamander King's sword right into the Salamander's stomach. Leaving the sword there, he placed his hidden blades right at the Salamander King's throat.

"Do you give up?" He said to the Salamander King while kneeling over him.

"In your dreams…" The Salamander King pulled out his sword with a sudden surge of strength and activated its special ability, knocking the Archangel back a few meters, before turning to face the Archangel again.

"Did you seriously think that I will be that easy to defeat?" The Salamander King questioned the Archangel as his health started regenerating back to the maximum level.

"Well, you are technically dead already." The Archangel continued to be arrogant and flew at the Salamander King, before he could register the attack; the Archangel had already stabbed him with the Aquila Realm and with his blades. With a grunt, he collapsed onto the ground and disappeared.

"No way… He just defeated a Salamander King, just who is this Spriggan?" The Sylph who the Archangel had saved gasped at the scene as the Salamanders quickly recovered the Salamander King's soul before hurriedly retreating from the territory.

"Now, that was not very hard, I expected more from a Salamander King. Don't you agree, Kirito?" The Archangel spun around and found his friend standing behind him.

"That was a nice display of skill; you definitely did not lose your skills since SAO." Kirito said to the Archangel, impressed by the display of strength.

"Excuse me, can you tell me who are you two and why are you helping us?" One of the Sylphs walked over and asked both of them in a serious tone.

"Well, we were just passing through and we decided to help you since you were clearly being overwhelmed by the Salamanders." Kirito answered her as he picked up his sword and placed it back. "Apparently, there was a spawn glitch so we got teleported here."

"I see; do you know your way back to your land?" The Sylph asked in a more friendly tone this time.

"Well, not really, considering this is our first time playing in this game." The Sylphs narrowed their eyes as they heard that, clearly suspicious if they were telling the truth.

"Alright then, you can come along to the Sylph capital. Just don't misuse the trust we place on you two, you two seem friendly enough, but are you two spies, I will never be sure. Leafa, take these two to Sylvein; we need to thank them for helping us in this fight. Especially you, seeing that they saved your life, you will need to thank them."

The Sylph whom the Archangel saved turned red and just stared blankly at her leader.

"Alright, now that being said, let's go. Oh and by the way Spriggans, do not stays too long on Sylph territories, the elder council of the Sylphs will arrest you before long." The leader of the group of Sylphs said to the Archangel and Kirito.

"Even if they tried, I am pretty sure that…" The Archangel said that before Kirito grabbed his shoulder to make sure he did not say what he wanted to say.

"Alright, we will accept your hospitality; we will be gone in around 2 days, thank you." Kirito answered the Sylphs for the Archangel.

Then, the Sylphs and the two of them flew towards Sylvein, the village within Sylph territory. As they neared the city, they noticed a huge glow of green and several tall "pillars" that emitted light, as well as glittering houses below the pillars.

"Wow, I thought that the cities in SAO were amazing, but I have never seen this before, now I know what Agil meant by improved graphics; this is amazing!" Kirito exclaimed as they were nearing the village.

"It looks quite nice to me, I do hope that I can find a good place to rest and sleep, I'm so tired after that. And Kirito, I hope you have not forgotten about our deal about Sugou, we will need to go to the World Tree as soon as possible. However, even if we defeat him in this game, I still have to seek him out in real life and take the Apple of Eden before he finishes his research."

"Yes, we do, but for now, let's relax for a while, we don't know the routes around this world yet, so we may need the Sylphs' help to get to the World Tree." Kirito replied the Archangel while swerving around in mid-air.

"Hey, you two; watch it!" the Sylph named Leafa shouted as they both snapped their heads to face forward. However, what faced them back was a solid mass of rock of the pillar.

"Ahhh!" Kirito and the Archangel both shouted as they crashed straight into the pillar and fell onto the ground.

A while later, after the black they saw cleared up; they could see some of the Sylphs leaning over them in a concerned manner.

"Are you two alright?" Leafa asked as she used a healing power to get their health back up to full.

"Ow… That hurts." Kirito said as he stood up while the Archangel brushed off some dust and stood up silently.

"Leafa, I will be leaving these two in your charge tonight, Sigurd wants to see me to discuss a few matters." The leader of the Sylphs and the other Sylphs walked away, leaving Leafa behind.

"But…" Leafa was about to say something when she realised that complaining would not solve her problem.

"Oh well, looks like I will have to be with you two for tonight." Leafa said while looking at the two of them.

Just then, a voice came from the distance, "Leafa-Chan!" A short, green-haired Sylph came running towards the three of them.

"Leafa-Chan, I finally found you. You are okay!" The Sylph said as he looked at Leafa.

"Yeah, I am fine." Leafa replied with a smile.

"You are great, Leafa-Chan." The Sylph said to Leafa before leaping backwards and drawing his dagger. "A Spriggan and, wait, what race are you?" He questioned the Archangel.

"Well, I am also a Spriggan, as you might call me. For now, I think that you should put down your sword, or you will either die or get seriously injured by me. Ask your Sylph friend, she knows how much I can hurt you." The Archangel said coolly to the Sylph.

"He's right Recon; he just destroyed a Salamander King right before our eyes. Anyway, they are the ones that saved me; you do not need to worry." Leafa said to the Sylph.

"Well, what is your name and why is your clothing not black?" Recon asked the Archangel.

"Alright, you guys can call me Otonashi and the reason my clothes are not black is because I am using a private generated set of clothes." The Archangel replied somewhat impatiently, but with a hint of friendship in his voice.

"But are you sure Leafa, that they are not spies." Recon said, still gripping his sword and brandishing it at the two Spriggans.

"Honestly, do young men these days have no sense, we wandered into the Sylph territory by accident, and it was not because we wanted to be spies." The Archangel told Recon.

"It's alright; I am going to spend the night with them anyway. Goodbye for now…" Leafa said as she beckoned to the two of them to hurry up and follow her. The two of them did so, while waving goodbye to Recon.

"Leafa-Chan…" Recon said as he watched the three of them leave for the tavern.

In the tavern, the waitress served the drinks and some food as well.

"So, Leafa, was that your boyfriend?" Kirito asked Leafa while the Archangel sipped his drink.

"No… that wasn't, he is just in the same grade as me in school, and we are just school mates." Leafa replied while blushing heavily.

"He seemed pretty close to you though? Does your relationship seriously end at the borders of a school mate?" Kirito inquired more as Leafa blushed a deeper shade of red after hearing what Kirito said.

"Well my friend, are you jealous of that boy right there? Yes, there sure is a reason to be jealous; she is quite attractive after all, no?" The Archangel spoke with a slight smirk on his face as Kirito started blushing at that as well.

"Ah… The innocence of young romance is still so amusing, even though I had not experienced any for many years now. However, we have more pressing matters in hand; we need you to tell us as much as you know about the World Tree in this world." The Archangel continued.

"Oh…The World Tree… Let's see, the World Tree is the centre of this world and it stretches up for many, many miles, flying will not be able to take you to the top. The only way to reach the top of the World Tree is to clear the many guardians of the world tree that are housed in the dome like structure. For the first race who has reached the top of the World Tree, they would be able to hold an audience with the Fairy King Oberon, who will in turn reward the race by making them the Alfs, capable of unlimited flight." Leafa explained to Kirito and the Archangel.

"Then, why has no one cleared it yet?" Kirito asked, clearly curious at the fact that the Tree had not been cleared even after so many months into the game.

"The answer is simply because 1 race itself is simply unable to clear the guardians in the dome, many have tried, and many have died." Leafa said, her eyes darkening a little.

"Then why has no race allied with each other and formed a combined charge to the top of the Tree?" Kirito asked.

"The philosophy is simple, Kirito, all humans in their natural form are selfish, and since the Alf race will only be granted to one race, all the races are unwilling to help each other since there is a chance that they all reach the top of the Tree, yet only one race receives the reward." It was the Archangel who replied this question.

On hearing this, Kirito looked down, "So, does that mean that it is impossible to reach the top of the World Tree?"

"I think so, but we cannot just give it up, especially after you see how fun it is to fly. It may take years, but someday…" Leafa was interrupted by Kirito.

"That's too long!" Kirito suddenly burst out at Leafa.

"Sorry, I just need to reach the top of the World Tree; there is someone that I need to see." Kirito apologised to Leafa after the sudden outburst.

"Well, my situation is the same as Kirito's; I also need to reach the top of the World Tree. A few years will make it too late if the events I need to prevent transpire." The Archangel said as he leaned back on his chair.

"Well then, we will need to leave, thanks for the information you provided Leafa, but we do really need to hurry and get to the World Tree." Kirito said as he stood up and walked to the door. His hands just pushed the handle when Leafa stood up as well.

"I will take you there." Leafa said to Kirito.

"But I cannot ask something like that from someone I just met." Kirito responded in a dejected manner.

"Do you know your way to the World Tree? You two obviously don't, so I will take you there."

"Are you sure about this?" Kirito asked while the Archangel just sat there, continuing to sip his drink.

"What about the guardians?" Leafa asked Kirito.

"I will figure something out…" Kirito answered in an uncertain manner.

"Well, I have already made up my mind, be sure to be here at 3 pm." Leafa said as she invited Kirito to her party and logged out.

"Kirito, just accept her, we do need to know our way to the World Tree and our way up the World Tree." The Archangel said to Kirito.

"Alright then, let's do this." Kirito said to the Archangel.

"However, I will be absent on certain parts of our journey, because apart from this virtual game, I do need to carry out some related missions in real life as well. Therefore, I will miss some parts of it. After all, the Apple of Eden is a physical object; it does not exist in this virtual reality." The Archangel told Kirito.

"Alright then, see you at 3pm later." Kirito said as he logged out, followed by the Archangel.

**Well guys, I know that there is not a lot of fighting in here but I am trying to follow the Original ALO plot as much as possible, while adding the parts with the Archangel in them. Have you enjoyed this chapter? Leave a review for my story. If you have any questions regarding the stuff I added and the content, the storyline, the characters, abilities, please post them in the reviews. I am doing a backstory to explain as many of them as I can. For now, Ja Ne…**


	19. ALO chapter 4: Family Problems

**Guys, I am indeed back with the 4****th**** chapter of this second arc, hope you are enjoying the story so far, and I promise to upload quicker once exams are over. For now, please enjoy this story. BTW guys, I will alter the story to make sure there is no incest stuff; this is for those who dislike incest and stuff and stuff.**

"Kirito-kun, huh?" Suguha thought as she removed the Amusphere from her face after the session of being in ALO. She then remembered the scene when she told Kirito that she would be going along with him to the World Tree. She blushed heavily, hugging her huge bear on the bed.

Back in Kirito's room, Kirito was also waking up, removing the Nerve Gear while opening his door. Just then, his mobile phone rang.

"Hello, Kirito, I need to visit you for a while, care to give me your address?" The voice on the other line said, it was the Archangel.

"Well, alright…" Kirito gave the Archangel his address details.

"I wonder why does he need to drop in, never mind, I shall see what Suguha is up to." Kirito mumbled to himself as he reached for Suguha's room's doorknob.

"Suguha, can I come in?" Kirito asked.

"Onii-Chan? Come in." Suguha said while Kirito opened the door.

"Suguha, isn't it time for lunch, why haven't you been making lunch?" Kirito asked.

"Sorry, Onii-Chan, I was playing a game and I got carried away, I will go and make lunch now. If you are hungry, there are some snacks in the freezer, you can go and eat them." Suguha said to Kirito, who immediately rushed to the kitchen to find the snacks.

"Jeez, Onii-Chan," Suguha sighed as she took out the ingredients she needed to use to make lunch.

After a while, Kirito's doorbell rang and Kirito went over and opened the door, fully expecting the Archangel to be there. The hooded man walked into Kirito's house and closed the door behind him.

"Well, it's kind of weird to see you in real life but still, some matters outweigh this in importance. Today and the day afterwards, I will be able to accompany you. However, you and Leafa would need to travel alone for a while, at least 2 days. I have found the server source of ALO after linking all its routers to their start point. I will be heading there to find what I can. I will come back and join both of you after I finish my mission, then, we can travel to the World Tree together." The Archangel said.

"Alright, but won't your missions be dangerous? What if you never come back?" Kirito asked.

"Risk has been the part of my life already; besides, I will have the help of the Brotherhood and modern machinery, weapons and vehicles; I am already much more fortunate than my ancestors." The Archangel replied with a slight smile.

"Ok then, I wish you the best of luck." Kirito said to the Archangel as he turned to leave his house.

"So do I, Kirito."

"Onii-Chan, who were you talking to?" Suguha stepped out of the kitchen as she heard Kirito conversing with another person. However, she stopped dead as she saw the Archangel, realising how much he looked like the person who she encountered in the game. However, shaking off her doubts, she asked, "Excuse me, what is your name?"

"My name is Otonashi."

It took a while for the words to register in Suguha's mind, however, that did not prevent the massive shock that she felt when she remembered the events in ALO. Why did that man call her brother Kirito? Why was he wearing similar clothes to the one that she met? Why did he know her brother? Everything seemed clear now; her brother was Kirito while he was the Archangel.

"Suguha… Are you alright?" Kirito asked her, concerned that she just froze right after the Archangel told her his name.

"Onii-Chan, are you Kirito-kun?" Suguha asked.

"Suguha… How did you know…?" Kirito was confused. Then he remembered, "Suguha, are you Leafa?"

"I see; what a surprise, we have been with your sister for so long, yet we did not notice it." The Archangel commented coolly while watching the siblings staring at each other in shock. "I will no longer intrude on your privacy, so Kirito, goodbye for now and remember to log-in at 3pm." He turned and walked out of the door.

"Suguha?" Kirito watched on as Suguha went back into the room and slammed the door.

"Suguha, what's wrong?" Kirito asked as he heard her muffled crying inside the room. He slumped against the door. He reflected on their lives so far, what had gone wrong? However, he knew one fact, they were not siblings.

Kirito then mustered up his courage and opened up Suguha's door. He could see Suguha crying on her bed, hugging her bear tightly. He sat onto the bed and tapped her shoulder lightly.

"Suguha, just tell me what is wrong." Kirito said in his most calming and soothing voice.

"Onii-Chan…" Suguha said as she heard Kirito's voice.

"What's wrong?" Kirito said, glad that Suguha finally responded to what he was saying. However, before he could even finish that sentence, Suguha snapped up and kissed him full on the lips, hugging him at the same time. Kirito's eyes widened in shock as he felt her lips touch his and the strength of the emotions behind that kiss. He knew, he knew that was the emotions he had when he shared his first kiss with Asuna. However, he soon recovered and pulled back quickly while staring at Suguha. Suguha's eyes were faded and without any glow, while the remnants of the tears were still on her cheeks.

"Will you love me, Onii-Chan?" Suguha said in a flat and emotionless tone that frightened Kirito the most.

"I can't, we are siblings, remember?" Kirito hurriedly lied to Suguha, mind clouding in guilt as he stared at her. Perhaps it was because of his neglect that she had become like this, he understood the problem now, and it was his entire fault.

"Will you love me, Onii-Chan?" Suguha continued asking Kirito, disregarding what he just said.

"No… I cannot… I'm sorry Suguha… I'm sorry for not taking care of you; it was my entire fault…" Kirito said as he stood up from the bed, intending to leave Suguha alone to recover.

After realising what Kirito had said, Suguha collapsed back onto the bed and begin crying, harder than ever. Kirito looked away, unable to bear seeing his "Little Sister" cry like that.

Through her sobs, Kirito could hear her say out incoherent words that were choked from her despair that she had been rejected by the one she loved so much.

"I knew… I knew… I knew we were not siblings since two years ago. But you… you knew all along didn't you… That's why you quit Kendo… That's why you didn't want to spend time with me… After returning from the game… you became so nice to me… I thought… maybe… just maybe… that you can love me… But… but… I found out about Asuna… I knew that she was your love… I then gave up on you… I met Kirito-kun in the game and I tried to fall in love with him, and I already have, only to find out that he was actually you." After saying that, Suguha continued to cry sadly into her pillow.

Kirito left the room, feeling that he could no longer do anything to improve the situation. What had gone wrong?

6 years ago…

"Kirito, are you sure? Do you not want to accompany your sister to Kendo anymore? She will be quite lonely." Kirito's mother asked him.

"Kendo is quite tiring, I need more rest on weekends, and school is starting to be tedious." Kirito said while silently adding; besides, she is not my sister anyway.

"Alright then… I will take you out of the course."

After quitting Kendo, Kirito became attracted to what all young males were attracted to, online gaming. He began to take less and less notice of Suguha, and the time spent with her gradually decreased. However, Suguha still revered him as her "Onii-Chan" and still respected him. Three years ago though, through an argument between their parents, she discovered her true identity. She could not take it in all at once; however, the facts slowly began to register in her mind. Slowly but surely, Kirito's places in her mind was changing. Instead of the respect she had for him, it was replaced by a burning desire for him, a feeling she did not understand then. However, she understood it just before Kirito entered SAO, the feeling was something known as love. When Kirito entered SAO, she was already fully in love with Kirito. However, he failed to notice the changed ways she looked at him.

Kirito stopped thinking here as waves of guilt crashed down on him, if he had been a more responsible brother to her, she would not have fallen in love with him. She would have taken him as just her brother, nothing else. He looked at his watch, it was 2.55 pm already. Putting on his Nerve Gear, he started the link and materialised in the World of ALO.

Sylvein, Sylph territory

"Oh, Kirito, you are here early." greeted a familiar voice as Kirito opened his eyes and looked around. He was at the exact same place where he logged out and as he looked up, he saw the Archangel looking back at him.

"Oh, hello, Otonashi…" Kirito answered back.

"What were you doing here anyway? You must have come here quite early." Kirito asked curiously.

"Well, you could say that I was doing some shopping, notice anything different on me?" The Archangel said while spreading his arms.

Kirito then noticed the new throwing knifes that he had, the new shoulder guard, and an improved set of the same robes her wore, this time with a huge silver belt around his waist and a red cloth hanging down from one of his shoulders.

"Wow, can you tell me where did you buy all these?" Kirito asked the Archangel.

"Just on this street, there are plenty of people selling these sorts of weapons and armour here." The Archangel answered Kirito while pointing out of the tavern.

"Then, did you buy those items with money?" Kirito asked again while flipping through his inventory.

"Of course I did, I mean who would give me these items for free, and they were quite expensive anyway." The Archangel said with an impatient and amused tone.

Before Kirito could ask where the Archangel found his money, Leafa materialised in the tavern.

"Oh hello Leafa," the Archangel said cheerfully at Leafa.

"Hello, both of you," Leafa said sadly with her eyes covered with her bangs.

"Alright Kirito, back to what I was saying, you can find your money at…" the Archangel told Kirito where to find his money while Leafa completely disregarded Kirito and the Archangel, except for a few times where she looked at Kirito, a mixture of sadness and regret in her eyes.

"Leafa, why don't we go to do some shopping? I will pay for you." Kirito asked Leafa, trying to break the ice between both of them.

Leafa only noticed and nodded her head after a while. She clearly did not forget what happened in real life just a while ago. These actions were not unnoticed by the Archangel.

The three of them walked onto the street and Kirito quickly headed for the nearest weapon smith shop, where various swords were being sold. Two of the swords there immediately caught his eye, a slender black sword and a blue coloured sword. He quickly bought the two swords and paid the money before heading towards the place where amour and clothing were sold.

As usual, amour did not entice Kirito and he did not seem interested in any of the amour. However, he looked at the clothes in interest. Much to the Archangel's surprise and amusement, he picked a set of black clothing with a hood, just like the Archangel's. However, the clothing had the unmistakable traits of Kirito. The silver buckle that stretched to his shoulder and the armour guard on one of his arms, as well as the fingerless gloves showed off the unique traits of Kirito. Kirito was rather pleased with this set of clothes and paid for it before walking out of the store. However, Leafa was all silent as she walked with the two of them.

"Kirito, Otonashi, I need to log out for a while, can you guys wait for me?" Leafa asked.

"Sure, we will be at the same tavern we were at just now." Kirito said to Leafa.

The two of them settled down at the tavern. Kirito took out his new swords and took a look at them. The black one was called the Vanquisher while the blue one was named Aquilius. Both of them had similar stats and were quite high level.

"Your choice of clothing really surprised me Kirito." The Archangel said in an amused tone to Kirito.

"Well, I figured out that it would be easier to hide my identity with this hood, there are a lot of people asking me about SAO in this game already. I don't really like attention either." Kirito answered the Archangel.

"That's good, because I can give you something as well." The Archangel said while handing Kirito two elaborately designed wrist guards which Kirito put on at once. To his surprise, the moment his wrists twitched upwards, two hidden blades came out of the wrist guards, almost slicing Kirito's fingers.

"Be careful when using it." The Archangel said as Kirito looked at the wrist guard in awe.

"Wow… How did you have an extra set?" Kirito asked the Archangel.

"Well, I always keep an extra set of blades in case I lose my other two." The Archangel answered.

Just then, Leafa walked into the tavern and found them.

"Guys, it's time to set off," Leafa said to the two of them.

"Alright, looks like it is finally time." The Archangel said while standing up and walking towards the door with Kirito.

"Wait! Let me tag along as well!" A voice sounded from a distance and the three of them turned around to look at the source of the sound.

**Sorry for the late updating, firstly I had exams and secondly I was ill for the past two days, therefore, I did not really write this chapter. Finally, it's done. Anyways, remember to post your opinions and questions in the reviews section. Ja Ne…**


	20. ALO Chapter 5: Good times don't last

**Hey guys, another chapter of my Fanfiction is indeed here and I will be uploading much quicker due to the fact that my parents are going overseas for a week so I will have much more time on the laptop so yay. Look forward to the updates, exams end next week. One important thing to take note before I begin this chapter, do you guys want me to change this to an Assassin's creed/ SAO crossover or as a purely SAO fanfiction? Post your opinions in the reviews section. **

"Oh it's you again, little kid." The Archangel said while looking at the onrushing Sylph with lime green hair.

"Don't call me little kid, my name is Recon." The Sylph said indignantly as he stared annoyingly at the Archangel, who smirked in amusement as he watched the Sylph pout.

"I have been through much more than you, that gives me the right to call you a child, besides, I am much older than you, I believe." The Archangel paused to take in the Sylph's annoyance and slight anger before continuing, "No matter, I assume you have business since you ran up shouting so loudly. So, go ahead and state the purpose of you being here."

"Stop addressing me like this, it's not like you are a trusted partner anyway, nor are you my master or lord. Anyway, Leafa, are you sure you want to travel with these two, they do not seem to be very trustable, from what I can see." Recon asked Leafa.

"Recon, stop complaining that they are not supposed to be trusted, one of them is my brother and the other one could have murdered me in real life at his convenience whenever he wanted to, so the fact that I am still alive proves that they can be trusted." Leafa said in a somewhat impatient voice, however; it was unable to hide the darkness and void in her mind.

"Alright, but I will tag along anyway, I want to see the world outside, it sounds very fun." Recon said to Leafa.

"Well, you can tag along; just don't go off wandering straight into danger." Leafa told him as he jumped in excitement after being told the news.

"Don't spend too much of your energy right now, you may need some for later." Kirito told Recon as if he was chiding him.

"Alright, let's go, every second wasted is a second that Sugou gains more and more progress on his research on the Apple." The Archangel said.

With that, the few of them took off in a flash and started flying towards the World Tree.

"How far away is the World Tree anyway?" The Archangel asked everyone at large in the area.

"Well, it's quite far, unfortunately, we have to enter Salamander territory to cross onto one of the main paths to the World Tree, which is quite dangerous. On the other hand, we could always take the safer but longer route to the World Tree by this forest." Leafa explained to everyone.

"I fancy my chances when I enter the Salamander territory, after all, I killed one of their 12 kings, I doubt that any of them will dare to fight me." The Archangel wondered aloud.

"Leafa is right Otonashi, we better take the safer route, and you may be very strong but what about the rest of us? We might be killed half-way and the process of saving Asuna and stopping Sugou will be delayed, leaving more to chance." Kirito said to the Archangel.

"I suppose you are right, we better take the safer route." The Archangel responded by agreeing with Kirito's idea.

"Take note though, there are quite a few bit of monsters scattered along the route we are taking. Some of the monsters are quite strong, so everyone stay on guard, don't get taken down by a surprise attack." Leafa said.

"Alright, now we can increase our speed as everything is settled." The Archangel said as he flew forward with a burst of pace and the rest soon followed.

They flew for barely 3 minutes when they encountered their first opponents, a bunch of purple flying dragons. The dragons were quite small, being only similar in size to the players in the game; however, they displayed huge teeth and claws that could rip an unsuspecting player to bits if he was not paying attention.

"Kirito, this is a good time to try out the new weapons I gave you, they should be useful unless you cut yourself." The Archangel said as he whipped out his hidden blades and barrelled right into one of the flying dragons before spinning around gracefully while it was still stunned to deliver a fatal blow with his blades, causing it to fade in a purple flash of flame. Kirito also flexed his wrists, causing two hidden blades to slide out as well. However, being new to the blades, he did not know how to use them effectively yet, causing one of the dragons to crash right into him and knock him off balance. Being a high-level player, Kirito quickly shook off the after effects of the attack and flew right into the midst of two of the dragons. As they tried to attack him at once, he pushed himself towards one first, stabbing one in the heart before retracting the blades in a fluid movement while drawing both of his swords and slicing the second dragon into bits.

"Wow that was awesome!" Recon exclaimed as he watched Kirito completely obliterate the two dragons. However, due to him not paying attention, one of the dragons went straight for his waist and bit him. His health began draining at a rapid amount before Leafa came in and intervened by drawing the dragon away with her attacks the Archangel carried Recon away to the ground, far away from danger.

"Be careful, always be on guard, and never be distracted." The Archangel growled at Recon, who looked up with fear lingering in his mind, the feeling of his health draining away, him unable to do anything about it, was horrible and terrifying.

Leafa was no weakling when it came to fighting as well; she managed to dispatch the dragon quite quickly due to her superior speed. She weaved in and out of the dragon's attacking rage, before finding an opening in the dragon's defence and striking, killing the dragon with a few well timed slashes. Meanwhile, Kirito had slaughtered the remaining 2 dragons with swift moves as well, before joining the Archangel and Recon on the ground.

"That was a foolish move, you almost got yourself killed." The Archangel said disapprovingly as Recon lowered his head in shame and disappointment.

"You are lucky here, you can actually respawn if you die, but we two have gone through SAO, the death game itself, a death in the game means death in real life." Kirito also told Recon.

"Sorry everyone…" Recon said.

The four of them soon came to a clearing in the forest, where they had to land due to the 10 minute flying limit. They settled there, each taking out some food to eat.

"Otonashi, I may need to log out for a while to check if my parents are back." Kirito said to the rest of the party.

"Alright, go ahead, we will guard you." The Archangel said.

With that, Kirito logged out of the game, leaving his now immobile and soulless body in the clearing.

"Leafa, what is wrong with you and your brother, I noticed that your behaviour has been very strange ever since you found out that Kirito was actually your brother." The Archangel inquired.

"Nothing really happened…" Leafa responded to that question in a way that it exposed the answer as a lie immediately.

"What is the point of lying to me, I do not lose anything, but you do. So just tell me, what is your problem?" The Archangel continued to question, clearly not happy at Leafa's response.

"It's…Just…That…" Leafa broke down in tears after she said those three words. "It's just that, I fell in love with my brother. But, to him, Asuna meant everything. I tried to give up on him and fall in love with Kirito. But…Kirito is my brother." After that, Leafa continued to cry. Meanwhile, Recon gasped in shock as he heard about Leafa's innermost secret.

"Let's see, do you want to give up on him already? If you do, I have a solution." The Archangel told her.

"What solution do you have?"

"It's simple, just log out and meet him in real life…" the Archangel continued to whisper to Leafa.

After that, Leafa logged out.

IN REAL LIFE: "Onii-Chan, are you there?" Suguha asked as she woke up in her bed after she logged out.

"Yes, Suguha, what do you want?" Kirito asked.

Suguha just rushed up to Kirito and hugged him as tightly as possible, while looking up at him with pleading eyes, as if asking Kirito for something. Kirito looked confused for a while, before realising what she was asking for. He then tried to struggle free, but Suguha held him tightly to her.

"Onii-Chan, just this one time, then I promise I will forget about you." Suguha pleaded.

Kirito looked at Suguha, indecisive at what he should do, but at that moment, his body acted on its own accord. He leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips. The two of them just stood there, relishing in each other's taste, before breaking apart.

"Thank you, Onii-Chan." Suguha said as she headed back to her own room while Kirito just stood there, shocked at what he just did.

"Link Start!" Suguha said as she materialised into the world of ALO once more, to find the Archangel and Recon still guarding her brother's and her body.

After a while, Kirito appeared right beside them.

"Alright, since we are all here, let's continue our journey to the World Tree." Leafa said brightly, for the first time since they started their journey to the World Tree. She also nodded in gratitude at the Archangel. With that, they all re-activated their wings and flew towards their destination. However, Recon had to depart because Sakuya, the leader of the Sylphs ordered him back to the Sylvein.

"So Kirito, what happened in real life?" The Archangel smirked at Kirito.

"Wait… Did you put her up to it?" Kirito asked the Archangel suspiciously, wondering if the Archangel knew about what happened between him and Suguha.

"Well, you see, I figured out the best way to solve the problem was to do that." The Archangel said innocently. Kirito glared at him for a second before laughing.

"That's good, because I seriously need to get the fact that Suguha loves me off my mind now. So thank you anyway." Kirito said to the Archangel.

The three of them travelled for a few hours, before a huge mountain range appeared before them.

"Wow, what a huge range of mountains. How are we going to fly through that?" Kirito asked as they approached the mountains.

"This mountain range is home to the Lugru pass, there is a city within the mountain range and a huge lake as well." Leafa explained to both of them.

"I didn't know you could do that, placing cities inside mountains." The Archangel said in surprise as he heard that there was in fact a whole city inside the mountains.

"Alright then, let's go in, the entrance is just that cave there." Leafa pointed to the right, where a huge cave opened up one side of the mountain.

The three of them deactivated their wings and began to walk inside the cave. The cave at the entrance was certainly impressive in terms of size, but it quickly narrowed down to become a small passageway that could only fit two people walking side-by-side.

"Just curious Otonashi, but how old are you." Kirito asked the Archangel in friendly chat to kill boredom.

"Well, I am 28 this year, yet it feels like I only lived for 18 years. How old are you?" the Archangel asked Kirito.

"I will be turning 18 soon." Kirito answered the Archangel.

"Turning 18 is an important year, if you know what I mean." The Archangel smirked at Kirito, who blushed a deep red after hearing what he said.

As they chatted, a new message popped up on Leafa's interface. She alerted the rest of them to look at the message to guess what it meant. However, they all could not understand what it meant; the message read: I was right, beware of S…

"I have no idea what he means, how about you get through to him?" the Archangel said to Leafa.

"He seems to be offline, has he suddenly gone to sleep or something?" Leafa said as she looked up her friends list, only to find out that Recon was now offline.

"Daddy, there are players approaching, lots of them." Yui, Kirito's navigation pixie suddenly popped out of his pocket and warned them of the incoming danger.

Leafa pushed them both into a narrow corridor and sealed the corridor with a spell.

"Keep quiet, if you talk too loudly, the spell will break." Leafa warned both of them.

They kept quiet for a while, but Kirito could not resist breaking the silence.

"Is that a bat I see? It's red in colour." Kirito said.

The Archangel immediately snapped his head around and glanced towards that corridor, where there seemed to be nothing until two red eyes shone through and the shape of a bat materialised before their eyes.

The Archangel quickly came out of the hiding spot, deactivating the spell unfortunately and with a flick of his hand, a throwing knife pierced the bat and it vanished into polygons.

"Let's run," Leafa said to the both of them.

"Why? Can't we just hide again like just now?" Kirito asked as he followed Leafa.

"They know that we killed their tracer, so we cannot fool them anymore." Leafa said to Kirito.

"That bat had a fire aspect in it, so it was most likely a Salamander tracer, so we better run fast before they could catch us." The Archangel said.

The three of them sprinted onto a bridge and towards the city that lay in the middle of the lake the bridge was on. However, before they could reach that city, a huge wall rose up in front of them, sealing off the access point to the city.

"Looks like we have to fight our way out of this." The Archangel grimaced and took out his sword after seeing 12 Salamanders close in on them from the passage they had just emerged from.

**Done with this chapter, so look forward to the next, and remember to give your opinions on the crossover/non-crossover part, it's quite important. Thanks for all the support, Ja Ne…**


	21. ALO Chapter 6: Return of the Brotherhood

**Sorry guys, I was quite busy over the past few days, had exam so yea. Never mind though, the 6****th**** chapter is now here. Enjoy. :)**

"Looks like we have to fight our way through this," the Archangel grimaced as he saw the 12 Salamanders emerge from the tunnel they had just come from. A wall had sealed the entrance of the city, barring any escape from this battle. Kirito and he both drew their swords.

"Leafa, you stay as support and heal us while we charge and deal with the enemies." Kirito said to Leafa, who nodded in agreement. After that, Kirito and the Archangel both drew their blades, to the Archangel's surprise; Kirito also pulled on his hood, making them look like identical copies, however different their colours were.

"One advantage of the hood is that, the opponent cannot read your eyes, thus making it harder for them to predict your movements." The Archangel explained to Kirito. Kirito didn't even reply before charging headlong into the Salamanders.

Meanwhile, the Salamanders have formed an interesting formation; three of the heavy warriors with shields formed a wall in front of the mages, who were casting spells from behind to dish out the damage to anyone attacking the formation.

Kirito rammed himself headlong into the formation, trying to break the shield wall with the intensity and speed of his attacks, which have not subsided since the fight with Kayaba Akihiko; in fact, it had only become faster and stronger. He slashed at the shield wall repeatedly, draining their health slowly but steadily. However, just as their health hit the yellow zone, the mages cast their healing spells and healed the warriors back to their maximum health. Then, another group of healers cast a fireball spell, launching balls of flame at Kirito, knocking him backwards. Seeing this, Leafa quickly cast her healing spell, which healed up Kirito's health. Kirito charged again, however, this time with the help of the Archangel.

Kirito just sprinted up and started slashing out with his swords again while the Archangel drew his hidden blades and leapt over the wall of defence with the speed and grace that he used to have. However, the formation changed shape into a triangle, protected on all sides and rendering the Archangel's approach ineffective. Meanwhile, the mages have finished their incantations and cast their spells once again on the two of them, causing them to have to leap back to avoid the flames and the spears of the armoured warriors.

"At this rate, we will slowly but surely be defeated no matter how high our level is," the Archangel told Kirito to back down just as the black swordsman was about to launch his third attack.

"Yes, but what other way can we deal with them?" Kirito asked the Archangel.

"There is a way; look at the pillars there, I can fly up there and use my air assassination on the warriors, you just have to find a way to stop them along with Leafa until I am in place." The Archangel told Kirito of the plan.

"Alright, let's do this." Kirito said to the Archangel.

With that, Kirito went over to Leafa and told her of the plan.

"When I draw them off, you can heal me as usual, but when they drive me back, you need to use one of your offensive abilities to draw them off. Meanwhile, Otonashi will be flying up the pillars to break their defence." Kirito said.

"Alright, I guess we have to do this, since other methods don't work." Leafa said to Kirito.

With that, the Archangel took off with his wings and flew into the air, while Kirito just charged once again at the shield wall. Kirito used his superior strength and tried to pull the shields apart, he separated a large enough gap for him to put one of his swords through. He was so close, so close to stabbing a warrior when another wave of fireballs was sent flying his way. He had to leap backwards once more. Leafa healed him as usual and also sent an offensive spell the mages' way.

"Kirito, I cannot keep this up for too long, if your friend does not hurry, we will be taken up, my energy is almost gone." Leafa said urgently to Kirito.

"I just hope that he can make it in time." Kirito said with his mouth set in a grim line.

Meanwhile, the Archangel had his own troubles, the pillar was proving to be ridiculously high and two extra warriors that came with the party had spotted him and had flown up to meet him in the air. He was unaccustomed to fighting like that, fighting fair, was not a concept really known to him. He would normally have the height advantage, the element of surprise on his side. This "fighting fair" was just a disadvantage to him. However, that did not mean that he lost his skills in combat.

The Archangel swung his sword and it connected with one of the warriors, knocking him off his balance while flying past him with a burst of speed. He then extended his hidden blade and stabbed him from the back. The other warrior, seeing the demise of his comrade, quickly hastened to attack the Archangel. The Archangel smirked, impatient and angry opponents made mistakes. His opponent charged straight at him and with a deft flick, he knocked his opponent off balance by grabbing his head and knocking it with his elbow and extended his blade right through the warrior's heart when the warrior had not recovered from the dizziness.

Meanwhile, Kirito and Leafa were still holding off their opponents, albeit barely as Leafa was now running out of energy, however, they fought valiantly to hold off the warriors to make sure that the Archangel had enough time to reach the top of the pillar to launch an attack. Kirito hurled himself over and over at the impenetrable shield wall, trying over and over to break it. However, he just found himself doing the same amount of damage every single time while the healing spells just smoothed over the damage. Kirito braced himself, ready to charge again when the fireballs suddenly shot faster than he anticipated. Leafa hurriedly cast a protection spell to protect Kirito from the incoming damage. However, she forgot that she had to keep the enemy occupied for the Archangel to reach the top of the pillar. Two fireballs shot into the sky and the Archangel fell right back onto the ground as the fireballs connected.

"Otonashi, are you alright?" Kirito asked hurriedly as he went to help his friend up. The Archangel however, stood up quickly and grimaced.

"If this continues, we will be slowly but surely wiped out. The moment Leafa runs out of energy will make us lose a lot of health." The Archangel said to Kirito.

"Do you have any suggestions then?" Kirito asked urgently.

"I don't know, if we die here, it will delay us by a very long time. I only know that the more time we spend on this will just result in us leaving more to chance, something that I don't like to do." The Archangel answered Kirito darkly.

Kirito was now distressed that he might never see Asuna again, so much that he did not notice the next wave of fireballs incoming. Just as the fireballs were about to connect with Kirito, the Archangel jumped in front of Kirito to block the shot. He got knocked onto the floor and one other fireball got through and blasted Kirito straight in the face, causing him to stumble onto the ground as well, leaving Leafa as the only one standing against the Salamanders. Some Salamander forces, which were hidden beforehand, advanced to kill all three of them.

However, just as two of them reached the Archangel, they suddenly let out a yell of pain and vanished while two white hooded figures leapt down into the battlefield, each of them helping the Archangel up while protecting him. Meanwhile, more throwing knifes met the Salamander warriors and stabbed them right in the heart, causing them to vanish instantly. The shield wall which protected the mages were not doing too well either. In fact, it simply ceased to exist. Three white hooded men leaped down from the pillar the Archangel was trying to reach and stabbed them with their hidden blades, causing them all to fall and vanish. The Brotherhood was here to help.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Mentor." One of the Assassins still standing above the pillar said to the Archangel. He had an aura of authority, just like the Archangel. He was also wearing a different coloured hood and clothes compared to the rest of the Assassins. He was wearing a red hood and had a red cape. In a flash, he leapt down and landed gracefully on the bridge.

"It is good to see you too, Igrashi." The Archangel said as the other Assassin bowed to him.

"Who are these people you travel with? Why not stay with the Brotherhood? You would be much safer there." Igrashi asked the Archangel of his companions.

"Well, I think most of you know the one wearing black, he is the black swordsman from SAO, the one who has helped us defeat Kayaba Akihiko and take back the Apple." The Archangel introduced Kirito to his Brotherhood.

"Oh it's that kid; you haven't proved that he was skilful to me yet, and can him really live up to the hype that has been surrounding him." Igrashi said to the Archangel.

"Well, if you help me defeat these people, I will let you have a spar with Kirito, but for now, please just focus on the task in front of you." The Archangel said to his vice-leader.

"Alright, got it," Igrashi said as he leapt with the other assassin's towards the Salamanders, who were now breaking ranks due to confusion and panic. However, none of them could escape Igrashi and the rest of the Assassins. The mages tried to use whatever spell they could think of. However, the practiced dodges by the Assassins quickly avoided the spells and they continued to leap towards the mages. The mages were no match for the Assassin's in close combat. The Assassins were armed to the teeth with some formidable weapons, while the mages were just wearing light armour. They were killed one by one, overwhelmed by the experience and fighting strength of the Assassins. Igrashi was about to stick his blade into the last Salamander's heart when the Archangel stopped him.

"We could get some information so don't kill him yet." The Archangel said as he, Kirito and Leafa approached the Salamander, who shrunk back in fear.

"Now, tell me, who sent you on this mission? We are just innocent by passers, why would you people target us, we are no threat to you." The Archangel inquired the Salamander.

"You can kill me," the Salamander said to the Archangel.

"Well, let's see, I got a lot of loot for you gathered through many quests, if you tell me some answers, I will offer my loot to you." The Archangel offered.

The Salamander's demeanour changed immediately when he heard of the part where the Archangel offered loot to him. He actually seemed quite happy to agree with the deal.

"Do you seriously offer me this deal?" he said to the Archangel.

"Of course, I wouldn't lie about this." the Archangel assured the Salamander that he would not go back on his word.

The Salamander immediately grinned widely and held the Archangel's hand in agreement. "It's a deal then." He said.

"Alright, then you give us the information first." The Archangel said.

"Well, this evening, the leader of my mage squad messaged me in my cell to come here. When I came here, he told me that the twelve of us were going to hunt for two people. I thought it would be overkill, but he said that you and the other one over there were the ones who took out one of their twelve kings. However, our squad leader said that it was someone higher up who said that you two were interfering with the plan." The Salamander said to the Archangel.

"What is the plan?" the Archangel questioned further.

"I am a lowly servant at the bottom at the totem pole, so there's no way that they will tell me what the plan is about. Anyway, what I know is that a huge number of Salamanders are heading north." The Salamander continued.

"They must be going for the World Tree!" Kirito suddenly joined the conversation.

"There is no way, we figured out that the whole army would need at least ancient class type equipment, and you are pretty lucky here. You are holding one right in your hands." The Salamander said.

"Oh, the sword of Altair." The Archangel said, not surprised by the fact that his sword was so good.

"Continuing on what I said, we are saving money to buy that equipment, that's all I know." The Salamander said.

"Alright, you have done well to tell me these, here's your money and items, goodbye." The Archangel pushed him on the back.

"Now that we have settled all of this, let's go to Lugru." The Archangel said to the rest of his party. "However, Leafa, can you check on the mail you received just now, and see if that kid is online?" the Archangel asked Leafa to check on Recon.

"Well, he is still offline; did he fall asleep or something?" Leafa said.

"Do you want to go offline to check on him?" the Archangel offered.

"Alright, I will log out and check on him." Leafa said.

"Well, we will take care of her body when she logs out, and this is a perfect time for you to test his skills, Igrashi." The Archangel said to his vice-leader.

"Alright then, let's find a place where we could duel." Igrashi said.

"I think that this bridge should be fine." The Archangel told both of them. "And it's a duel down to the red health, so when your health reaches red, you lose."

"Alright then, Kirito, are you ready?" Igrashi asked Kirito while pulling out his sword.

"Ready when you are." Kirito said.

**Well, next chapter you can obviously expect some epic stuff where Igrashi fights Kirito and more! Ja Ne… **

**PS. As usual, please post your opinions in the reviews section, harsh reviews are ok, but I would definitely prefer positive and helpful ones.**


	22. Anouncement

**Well, thank you all for supporting this fanfiction, and I will be terminating it here. Since this is my first fanfiction, I have made quite a few mistakes in it. Therefore, I will be rewriting it soon, but it will not be too soon, probably 3 months or 4 before I will start to rewrite this fanfiction. Ja Ne…**


	23. Another Announcement

**Hey guys, I will be releasing a rewrite soon for this story. However, the rewrite may not be appealing for some of you, since it is a crossover between Assassin's creed and Sword Art Online. Yes, I am bringing in Assassin's creed into this story. I mean, there were a couple of references already. So this is not really a surprise. However I would like to give you guys a spoiler: This time, I will not be skipping time. I will be starting from the very beginning of Sword Art Online instead of leaping of in the middle of it. The first few chapters will be mostly Assassin's creed so those who want to read but do not understand, please go read up on Assassin's creed. Of course, you could always skip the parts you don't understand; you will be able to mostly understand the plot. That's all for now. Ja Ne…**

**Oh yes, I forgot to mention, for those of you who didn't catch it, this story will be posted under the Sword Art Online/ Assassin's creed category.**


End file.
